


Cherry and Atticus Get Stage Fright

by PerkyGoth14



Category: Extreme Dinosaurs (Cartoon), Scooby Doo - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-05-02 11:58:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19198336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerkyGoth14/pseuds/PerkyGoth14
Summary: The show Talent Star is hosting a special showing in Chicago which prompts Mo to come over to sing with Atticus, and while there, they are told about a Phantom of the Talent Show which is terrorizing a lot of the contestants to make them quit and drop out of the show. While there, the adventure group meet some new friends who have a very unique family with them unlike any other.





	1. Chapter 1

All around the town, it was a weeknight that everyone was excited for. Except for maybe Cherry who never understood the fuss and tuned it out by reading a book. Everyone else, however, was in front of their television sets so they could watch one of the best TV shows they knew known as Talent Star.

"Oh, brother, another one of those shows." Cherry rolled her eyes.

"Man, I'd like to be on a show like this, but I don't know what I could do." Mo smiled out of excitement.

"Maybe sing?" Atticus smiled back.

"Singing? Me?" Mo replied.

"You do have a pretty good voice when you want, Mo." Patch said.

"Yeah, like that time at Discord and Fluttershy's wedding." Cherry said.

Mo smiled bashfully to all of them.

"Ah, if only we could go to Chicago, and actually be there... It'd just be... Awesome." Patch smiled.

"Yeah, but what are the odds we'd be able to go there?" Atticus asked.

"Nor would we even want to go?" Cherry muttered.

The phone soon rang and Cherry answered it.

"Hell's Kitchen?" Cherry smirked.

"Hey, Cherry, it's Fred." A familiar voice said on the other line.

"Hey, Fred, what's up?" Cherry greeted.

Atticus, Mo, and Patch smiled to hear from Fred.

"Wanna come with us to Chicago?" Fred asked.

"You gotta be kidding." Cherry deadpanned from the coincidence.

"It'll be lots of fun." Fred said.

"You guys wanna go to Chicago?" Cherry asked the others.

"Chicago... Rolly says that's where the best pizza is." Patch smiled hungrily.

"Yes, please!" Mo smiled.

"Okay, Fred, we'll meet you in Chicago," Cherry said. "Uh, the rest of Mystery Inc will be there, right?"

"Sure thing!" Fred smiled. "It'll be great to see you guys."

"Great." Cherry said.

The others smiled out of excitement.

"Looks like we're gonna see Scooby and the gang," Cherry said. "No doubt that there's going to be a mystery involved."

"Yep, no doubt." Atticus said.

"Well, maybe now I can be in Talent Star," Mo smiled. "I guess I could sing on there."

"Maybe." Patch said.

"Chicago...?" Cherry asked.

"Chicago." Atticus nodded to her.

One ride later...

They were soon all on the road to get going to Chicago after talking with their families about it, and it was soon allowed. Cherry began to do research on Chicago with her phone to pass the time as it was along way into the windy city away from home.

"Huh... That's funny." Atticus said.

"What's that?" Mo asked.

"I could've sworn I saw the Mighty Ducks' van." Atticus replied.

"I see something too." Patch said.

"Something weird is going on here..." Cherry commented.

"I see some mutant dinosaurs and what I think might be an alien and two people with them." Patch said.

"Patch, I think you and Atticus fell asleep watching too many mutant animal cartoons," Cherry said. "I mean, what's next, sharks that walk on the streets and land? Hmm...? Mice who ride motorbikes from the planet Mars? SWAT Kats? Those cowboys that are actual cows in the Wild West?"

"Cherry, you know that last one actually happened to me." Atticus reminded.

"Yeah, well, you know what I mean." Cherry shrugged.

"Then explain how those are real." Mo said as she pointed ahead to what Atticus and Patch mentioned.

Cherry opened her mouth until her jaw dropped and her eyes widened in shock.

"I don't believe it." Patch said.

"How do you think I feel?" Cherry asked him.

"Oh, this adventure is sue going to be an interesting one." Atticus smiled knowingly.

"Yes, it is." Mo smiled back.

They soon kept riding along until they would find a place to park.

"I sure hope Brick Pimiento is nice in real life." Mo said to the others.

"Hopefully." Atticus said.

"Eh, I'm sure he is," Cherry shrugged. "Most people freak out around celebrities, but they're pretty laid back and normal."

"The Mineralogical Society has the world-famous soap diamond on display at the Field Museum." Cherry said to the others, seeing something on her phone.

"Soap Diamond, huh?" Patch asked. "That's an interesting name though. Can't say I've heard of that before."

"Same here." Mo said.

"Anything on the opera house that the show is going to be held?" Atticus asked.

"Yeah. It's almost a hundred years old," Cherry replied. "It's been closed since the 70's, and there are rumors that it's haunted."

"Mystery!" Atticus beamed.

"Oh, brother." Cherry rolled her eyes.

Suddenly the Mystery Machine was swerving around.

"...What are those guys doing?" Patch blinked.

Cherry soon made binoculars appear and soon looked through them to see why the Mystery Machine was swerving.

"Well?" Atticus asked.

"Don't ask me why or how, but Scooby appears to be driving the Mystery Machine." Cherry informed.

"What?!" Atticus, Mo, and Patch panicked.

"Yeah, what kind of idiot lets a dog drive their car, Atticus?" Cherry smirked.

"Cherry, this is serious!" Atticus panicked.

"Scooby-Dooby-Doo!" Scooby smiled as he began to drive.

The Mystery Inc gang soon screamed as Scooby drove them around.

"Maybe Scooby will be lucky." Mo said.

"I highly doubt it." Cherry rolled her eyes.

"Let's try to be positive for our friend." Patch said.

Eventually, after a while of driving, the Mystery Machine van luckily parked by the opera house.

"Looks like Scooby did get lucky." Mo said.

"Whatever." Cherry rolled her eyes.

Everyone soon came out of their vehicles, taking a look at the opera house.

"This place is amazing," Velma commented. "I can't believe it's been closed for so long."

"I can't believe it either." Mo smiled.

"Hey, guys." Fred said, coming with the others.

"Hey, Fred. Hey, gang." Cherry said to Mystery Inc.

"Isn't this place fantastic?" Mo smiled.

"It really does feel unique and amazing." Daphne smiled back.

They soon came to explore while going into the opera house and to catch up since their last adventure together.

"I'm sorry, boys," A security guard said, stopping Atticus and Shaggy at the door. "No animals allowed except seeing-eye dogs."

"Fine," Shaggy replied. "You guys go ahead, we'll catch up with you!"

"Yeah, we'll see ya inside." Atticus said.

"No, they won't." The security guard said, crossing his arms.

"Tough luck, Spot," Cherry said to Patch before walking off with the others. "See you later."

Atticus soon whispered an idea to Shaggy, Scooby, and Patch. They all listened in and smiled a bit as that sounded promising. The security guard glared at the four who just smiled innocently. And where the four of them soon went off to a hiding spot where no one would see Atticus use his magic.

"Okay, you guys, let's have some fun so we can join the others." Atticus smiled. Once he used his magic on Scooby and Patch, they now looked human to the guard.

"Whoa, Scooby, you look weird..." Patch said.

"Like, so do you." Shaggy told him.

"Yeah, well, I'm used to it by now." Patch shrugged.

They soon walked up to the entrance. The security guard looked at them and they just grinned innocently before he shrugged and let them inside.

The others soon looked around and came up to a man who was pushing a stereo.

"Hi, we're supposed to check in with the assistant director?" Daphne spoke up.

"Dewey? Yeah, good luck with that," The man chuckled before gesturing. "He's in there."

"Thank you." Mo said.

They then walked into the theater room to see a man who was given some smelling salts from a woman to help relax him.

"Hmm... This doesn't look so good..." Cherry said.

"Where?! What happened?!" The man yelped once he sat up in his chair.

"You know, that guy..." The woman told him.

"The Phantom!" The man yelped before passing out again until the woman gave him some smelling salts to wake him up again.

"Sounds like we arrived a little late." Mo said.

"Hello, we're supposed to check in?" Daphne called to the woman.

"Yeah, I know, but you'll have to wait." The woman replied as she gave some more smelling salts to the man.

"Uh, how many times have you been giving him smelling salts?" Mo asked the woman.

"I've lost track, I've had to do it so many times." The woman replied.

"You know, overuse of smelling salts can damage the nasal passages." Velma advised.

"But I'm guessing something to do with The Phantom caused him to be so scared that every time he wakes up and remembers that guy, he continues to faint." Mo said.

"Pretty much, yes." The woman replied.

"Which Phantom?" Cherry smirked. "The Phantom of the Opera?"

The man sniffled until he woke up again, freaking out about the Phantom.

"And we're stopping that." Mo said.

Cherry soon took the smelling salts away in deadpan.

An older man with a clipboard then came in, handing it over to the woman. "Hey, I found that clipboard the Phantom took, and also I quit," he then told her. "I ain't hanging around this place for another second. It's haunted." He then left the theater as the others looked at the clipboard.

"'Christine Must Win'?" Cherry read aloud, seeing some graffiti. "It IS the Phantom of the Opera!"

"Christine must be one of the contestants." Mo said.

"Or the girl who chose Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny over Erik." Cherry said.

"Cherry, knock it off." Mo rolled her eyes.

"Well, gang, it looks like we've got another mystery on our hands." Fred commented.

"Looks like it." Atticus said as he, Shaggy, Scooby, and Patch walked over.

"...Who's...?" Cherry blinked.

"Scooby." Atticus whispered.

"...He looks weird." Cherry said.

"It was either this or try to sneak past the guard with something big enough to hold Scooby and Patch in." Atticus said.

"Still looks weird." Cherry replied.

"Just make the most of it." Atticus told her.

A young blonde girl soon slammed the door open and came inside with her parents who were talking on the phone and a magenta-colored creature who must've been her imaginary friend was following her.

"Wow." Patch said.

"Well, hello there," Daphne smiled to the blonde girl, bending down to her height. "Are you-"

"Are you trying to psych her out?!" The black-haired man glared.

"Is this some kind of mind game?!" The redheaded woman added.

"She was just saying hi." Cherry said.

"Well, don't." The man glared.

"You can't just talk to Chrissy." The woman added.

"She's very sensitive," The man replied. "You have to talk to her before you talk to her to let her know you're going to talk to her."

"Isn't that right, sweetie?" The woman cooed to her blonde daughter.

"Whatever." The blonde girl scoffed, taking out her mirror.

"You see?!" The adults glared at Daphne and Cherry.

"...You guys are kinda weird..." Cherry glanced at the adults.

"Totally." Daphne added.

"Come, my dear friend, Chrissy, let's help you with your stuff." The imaginary friend smiled in a sickly sweet way.

"Oh, Berry, you're such a sweetie~" The blonde girl cooed to her imaginary friend.

"I'm not even going to ask why she named her imaginary friend Berry." Mo said.

"Yeah, we're here to check in." The man said to the woman beside Velma.

"WE'RE CHECKING IN!" The woman yelled out on her cell phone.

"Uh, Mr. Ottoman's kind of unconscious right now?" The woman replied to the couple.

"Yeah, so you'll have to wait until he wakes up." Atticus added.

"Are you saying we can't check in?!" Lance glared.

"THEY'RE SAYING WE CAN'T CHECK IN!" Barb complained.

"This is totally unacceptable!" Lance ranted.

"Is it possible for someone to be tri-polar?" Cherry muttered.

"They're pretty much like that all the time." A brown-haired girl said, coming behind them.

"You don't say." Patch said.

"Hey, you're Emma, right?" Fred smiled to her. "The violinist?"

"Yeah, and you're Fred and Daphne," The girl replied. "I saw your audition tape, you guys were great."

"Well, it's nice to see a nice little girl part of the show," Mo smiled. "Uh... You do mean it, right?"

"Yeah," Emma smiled back. "I'm not just saying that because of the cameras."

"What cameras?" Patch asked.

"Those cameras," Emma pointed out. "You know, they're catching all the backstage drama."

"That's the best part of the show," Daphne smiled. "All the who likes who, who hates who stuff."

"Ohh, yeah." Mo said.

A couple of cameramen were shown along with other cameras watching their every move. Another group soon came by.

"The dinosaurs are back, Cherry." Patch pointed out.

"...What the...?" Cherry gasped slightly.

"This must be where to sign you kids up." The mutant T-Rex told the teenage boy and preteen girl with him and the other dinosaurs and alien.

"I guess so," The girl smiled. "Thanks, T-Bone. This really means a lot to us."

"You two have earned this." A mutant blue triceratops told the teenage boy and preteen girl.

Cherry rubbed her eyes before she looked a bit lightheaded.

"Whoa! Easy there, Cherry," Atticus said, trying to help her. "It's okay... We're not reliving Jurassic Park again."

"I sure hope not." Cherry mumbled.

"Is this where we sign up?" The teenage boy asked.

"Uh, yeah," Atticus said. "Um... Hi... Nice dinosaurs."

"Thanks," The teenage boy smiled. "They're the Extreme Dinosaurs!"

"Nice to meet you." Patch greeted the Extreme Dinosaurs.

"I'm Leo Stardust, this is my sister Luna," The teenage boy smiled. "That's Spike, T-Bone, Stegz, and Bullzeye. That's also our friend: Chedra Bozack."

"Salutations." The younger girl said, sounding quite intelligent for her age.

"This feels like something out of a wannabe Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon." Cherry commented.

"It's nice to meet you all." Atticus told the group.

"Sure... Yeah..." Cherry replied.

"Are you gonna be in the show too?" Luna asked.

"Well... Our love bugs are hoping too." Cherry smirked.

Patch nodded with a playful smirk. Atticus and Mo looked bashful about that.

"Uh, so, what're you in for?" Mo asked.

"We have our own band." Luna smiled.

"That's sounds great." Patch smiled back.

"Hello, everyone, and welcome to Talent Star," A famous man soon appeared with a whimsical smile. "Hey, I'm your host, Brick Pimiento. I just wanted to reassure you all that everything is fantastic, just fantastic. There isn't a problem, nothing happened, and there's definitely no ghost."

"Ghost?!" Barb and Lance looked to each other.

"Ghost? I didn't say ghost," Brick chuckled to them. "Why would I say ghost when there's no ghost, heh? Fantastic."

"But he did say 'ghost'," Bullzeye said. "Three times."

"Yeah, that wasn't suspicious at all." Chedra added.

"There he is!" Shaggy beamed, seeing the TV Show host, with Scooby.

"Reah! Rhere re ris!" Scooby replied.

"Do you guys have an act to show him?" Atticus asked Scooby and Shaggy.

"Uh, sure we do!" Shaggy replied. "You think he'll let us show him?"

"If you do, sure." Patch shrugged.

"Yeah." Atticus nodded.

"You're okay there, right, Dewey, heh?" Brick asked the assistant director as he walked away after ruffling up his hair. "Fantastic. Well, carry on."

Shaggy and Scooby then followed after him.

Dewey sniffed something and then woke up. "I smell dog!"

"Uh, no dogs around here!" Atticus said innocently.

"Yeah, no dogs here at all." Mo added.

"Hmm..." Dewey glanced at them suspiciously.

"Uh, Mr. Ottoman, are you all right?" The woman asked the assistant director.

"Dogs are nothing but big furry sacks of germs. Did you know that?" Dewey replied.

"I don't think that-" The woman replied.

"I'm going to find that dog if it takes me all night," Dewey told her before swiping her clipboard and storming off. "Give me that."

"Wow." Mo blinked.

"Drama~..." Cherry commented. "Well, whoever or whatever this Phantom is, I'm sure we can handle it."

They then heard someone screaming all of the sudden.

"Is someone in danger?" Luna asked.

"I guess that's what that scream would mean, kid." Cherry deadpanned.

"I don't know what that was, but I'm running away from it." Shaggy said to Scooby.

"Are they actually going to run from the screaming?" Leo asked, referring to Shaggy and Scooby.

"Yes..." Atticus sighed.

Brick and the others came to the monitor room to see what was going on. "Is that him?" he then asked.

They soon heard some laughter to see a screen of Chrissy screaming as a monster appeared to be in front of her.

"Yeah! It's the Phantom!" A man told Brick.

"We better hurry and capture that Phantom." Spike said.

"I think the Phantom should eat her," Cherry said. "It would serve her right."

"Cherry!" The others scolded.

"What?" Cherry glared. "She's a spoiled, obnoxious brat, and her parents are worse!"

"What about the other contestants?" Patch asked. "He might go after them."

"Ugh... Fine..." Cherry replied.

They soon spotted the Phantom in the hallway.

"There he is!" Mo said. "We have to stop him!"

"Who should go after him?" Patch asked.

"Velma, you watch the monitors. You can tell me where he is," Fred said as he got ready to leave. "Daphne, you come with-"

"Yes!" Daphne replied before following him.

"I'm going too." Atticus said.

"I think I need to go too," Leo added. "Luna, you stay with the others."

"Be careful." Luna told her older brother.

"You know I will be," Leo smiled. "You take care of yourself and be good."

Luna smiled back as she waited for him. The others soon ran off together to go after the Phantom of the talent show.

"Time to capture this Phantom." Atticus said.

"Move aside," Leo smirked. "Someone big and strong should handle this."

"Excuse me?" Atticus replied.

"I'm just saying I should take the lead on this." Leo told him.

"Ah, kid, you got a lot to learn," Atticus smirked. "I can handle this, ya know. I am pretty strong for my age."

"Yeah, well, so am I!" Leo retorted.

Anime-like lightning strikes began to shoot from their eyes.

"Okay, Nancy, let's get going before you kill someone." Cherry said, trying to move her friend.

"Coming, Cherry." Atticus replied with a slight glare at Leo.

"I think Atticus might have found himself another rival." Patch said.

"His rivalries are going to be the death of me..." Cherry whispered.

Everyone soon split up to look for the Phantom.


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay, Lunes, which way?" Leo asked his little sister.

"Turn left at the end of the hall," Luna instructed. "Second door on your left."

Leo soon turned left at the end of the hall.

"Are you getting all this on camera?" Brick asked.

"Yeah, this is great stuff." KT smiled to him.

"Fantastic," Brick replied. "Should we use it for promos or leak it to YouTube?"

"Both." KT suggested.

"Why leak this out?" Mo asked.

"Ah, it's just business, you wouldn't understand." Brick told her.

Mo rolled her eyes from that.

"Hmm..." Velma paused in thought as she looked at the two men. 

Patch also looked suspicious.

Leo opened the door and tried to the lights on, but he couldn't so he used his phone as a source of light.

"Creepy." Chedra commented.

"It sure is." Daphne agreed.

"No argument here." Atticus said.

Someone soon pushed a shelf filled with axes on it down on them.

"Look out!" Daphne cried out before they ran out of the way.

They soon saw who pushed the shelf down.

"The Phantom!" Atticus and Leo glared.

Fred helped Daphne away from the axes.

"Are you okay?" Fred asked.

Daphne nodded to him, blushing slightly.

"There he goes!" Atticus and Leo glared as they saw where the Phantom went.

They soon came out into the hallway.

"Luna, which way?" Leo asked on his phone.

"I-I don't know!" Luna replied. "I can't see where he went!" 

"What?!" Leo asked out of shock.

Shaggy and Scooby went into the dressing room to hide.

"Oh, Shaggy and Scooby." Atticus sighed.

"He'll never think to look in here, right?" Shaggy said.

"Right..." Scooby shivered before smelling something. "I smell lemons!"

Atticus and Patch came to join the cowardly duo until they soon smelled lemons themselves.

"Why does it smell like lemons in here?" Patch asked.

"Yeah, I smell lemons too," Shaggy added before sniffing with him and glancing over. "Do you smell lemons?"

The Phantom was then shown which made him scream. Shaggy and Scooby then ran out of the room.

"We've gotcha now, Phantom." Atticus glared.

The Phantom just laughed at him.

"Hahahahah, you're not funny!" Atticus replied. 

"Not funny one bit!" Patch added.

The Phantom soon grabbed a hold of Atticus. Atticus soon grabbed him back and threw him right out of the room with a glare.

"Whoa." Patch said.

"Well... He made me mad." Atticus told him.

"Calm down a little before you go overboard," Patch warned. "You don't want your crystal power to go out of control."

Atticus soon took some deep breaths to calm himself down so he wouldn't get too angry.

"There! He's heading North!" Velma pointed out.

"North? Which way is North?" Fred asked.

"Go left! No right, then left!" Velma replied.

"Okay!" Patch told her.

"I'm getting dizzy!" Atticus cried out.

Suddenly, the groups all ran into each other and fell down in the middle of the floor.

"I'm sorry." Daphne said.

"No, I'm sorry." Fred replied.

Patch began to try to go to where the Phantom went.

"Go, he's on the stairs!" Velma told the others.

The Phantom laughed and seemed to disappear right on the screen.

"What?!" Luna yelped. "There's no way that just happened... That's impossible!"

"But it did just happen." Spike said.

"What...?" Velma blinked before looking out to the others, feeling both flustered and overwhelmed. "Did you see that? ...Maybe he really is a ghost."

"Maybe." Mo said.

"But ghosts aren't real..." Luna said.

Everyone then met up together to talk about what had happened.

"It just can't be a real ghost... It just can't be... Unless the Raptors are doing something." Luna said to her brother and the Extreme Dinosaurs.

"I doubt this is their handiwork." Leo said.

"There must be a rational explanation." Velma replied.

"Yeah, he's a ghost." Shaggy stated.

"A ghost that smells like lemons?" Cherry deadpanned.

"I doubt that." Luna added.

"And it's not weird to have a ghost who doesn't smell like lemons?" Shaggy asked.

"We have to get to the bottom of this." Fred replied.

Dewey grumbled as he swore that he smelled a dog around somewhere, but couldn't find one with Scooby and Patch disguised as humans.

"Okay, I'll check us into the hotel and do some internet research." Velma told the others.

"Alright." Mo nodded.

"Shaggy and Scooby, you go to the library on State Street to find out what you can on the opera house's history." Velma said.

"How are we the choice for the library research?" Shaggy asked.

"Because." Cherry replied with a smarmy smirk.

"Like, that isn't an answer." Shaggy told her.

Cherry stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'll see what I can find out here at the building," Fred said. "Daphne, will you come with--"

"Yes~" Daphne gushed and went after him happily. "I'm going with Fred!"

'Okay, she is seriously making it obvious that she's in love with Fred.' Mo thought to herself.

Meanwhile, Velma went with Cherry to go check into the hotel, coming to the front desk.

"Welcome to the Hotel Canard, how may I be of service?" The hotel manager greeted them.

"Um, yes," Cherry said. "We--"

"We'd like to check in!" Barb said, pushing them out of the way as she came with her husband. "Barb and Lance Damon and Chrissy and Berry!"

"Rude much?" Cherry glared.

"I'm sorry, these young ladies were here--" The clerk tried to tell the Damon couple.

"Are you giving us attitude?!" Lance glared.

"I think he's giving us attitude!" Barb replied.

A blonde woman soon came out, looking to the couple.

"I WANT SOMEONE TO TAKE CHRISSY AND BERRY'S BAGS TO THE ROOM, NOW!" Lance snapped.

The clerk soon looked to Velma and Cherry, wanting to know if they're okay with waiting.

"Go ahead," Velma sighed. "We'll wait."

The clerk looked to them and went back to focusing on the Damon couple.

"Black Canary?" Cherry whispered to the blonde woman.

"Surprised you recognized me." The blonde woman whispered back. 

"How could I forget?" Cherry smirked to her. "Shouldn't you be hanging around Green Arrow?"

"Very funny..." The blonde woman replied. "I'm known as Aunt Diana around here though."

"That's nice." Cherry said.

"Oh, Chrissy, are you okay?" Velma asked the blonde girl as she sat in the luggage dolly.

"Of course I'm okay," Chrissy rolled her eyes. "Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"Weren't you scared of the Phantom?" Cherry asked. "We heard you screaming."

"That wasn't a scared scream, stupid," Chrissy said with a laugh. "It was a happy scream because he told me I'm gonna win the competition."

"No need to be jealous though," Berry smirked. "Not everyone can be as amazing as Chrissy."

"Oh, please." Cherry rolled her eyes.

"Chrissy, you and Berry shouldn't talk that way around other people." Diana said.

"Whatever, Aunt Diana," Chrissy rolled her eyes. "You're not my mother."

"You can't tell me what to do." Berry told Diana.

Cherry had a small glare from that. "So... The Phantom told you that you were gonna win, Chrissy?" she then asked the spoiled blonde girl which reminded her a lot of how Darla used to be before the Fudo family took her in as a relative.

"I'm gonna win," Chrissy smirked. "Even if he has to obliterate all the other contestants. Isn't that awesome?"

"No! That's horrible!" Cherry told her.

"Oh, you don't have to feel bitter and jealous, not everyone can be like me." Chrissy smirked.

"KID!" Cherry glared, looking like she wanted to beat Chrissy up for being so smug about herself.

"It's true. We have a genuine psycho on our side. Score." Barb said.

"And that's why the Phantom wrote, 'Christine must win' on that clipboard," Lance added. "Her name's Christine."

"But call her Chrissy." Barb then added.

"Only don't call her Chrissy because don't talk to her," Lance said. "You're getting your nerd breath all over her."

Cherry looked like she was about to lose it and without meaning to, summoned Kimba.

"What the--?!" Chrissy yelped, holding onto Berry.

"Where did that come from?!" Berry added.

"Kimba?" Cherry blinked.

"You know this beast?!" Lance yelped.

"Uh... Sorta..." Cherry said.

"CALL ANIMAL CONTROL BEFORE IT EATS MY BABY!" Barb told the hotel clerk.

The clerk was about to call Animal Control before he sees Kimba no longer there.

"What was that about?" Diana asked Cherry.

"I'm not sure to be honest," Cherry replied. "Sorry your niece is a brat."

"Believe me, me too..." Diana narrowed her eyes about Chrissy's behavior.

"Come on, Chrissy," Barb smiled innocently. "Keep smiling~"

"Oh, brother." Cherry rolled her eyes.

"I better go," Diana told Cherry. "By the way... How is Batman?" she then asked with a sly smirk.

"Possibly dating Aunt Catwoman." Cherry smirked back.

"Oh, goody for them." Diana said with a slight disappointment.

Cherry smirked as Diana soon walked off. "Well, at least the Music Meister isn't around..." She then muttered with a roll of her eyes.

"True." Diana nodded.

"Little snot." Cherry mumbled about Chrissy.

"Oh, they're unbearable, aren't they?" A man smiled as he came over.

"Yeah... Who are you?" Velma replied.

"I am The Great Pauldini!" The man replied before magicking up an egg. "My card."

"That's an egg," Cherry told him. "You need to work on your act."

"Okay, egg, card, whatever. I made it appear, right?" Pauldini defended. "Can you do that? No, you can't because you're not a magician," he then pulled out a bouquet of roses out from Velma's ear. "Who's a magician?"

"Uh, you are?" Velma replied.

"Oh, yeah, heh. Up high," Pauldini smiled before holding his hand up high until Velma high-fived him. "That's what I'm talking about."

"Wow." Cherry rolled her eyes.

"You'll be a great magician too someday... But maybe not..." Pauldini said to her. "Perhaps you should try to go to Whirlen Merlin's Magic Academy."

"My sister goes there." Velma told Cherry.

"I don't know what to be more shocked about," Cherry said. "A school for stage magicians or that you have a sister."

"Would both do?" Velma suggested.

"Hmm... Both... Both is good." Cherry said.

"He's pretty unbearable himself." A voice said, behind them.

"You got that right," Cherry nodded before looking behind her. "Who said that?"

"Ahem!" The voice cleared his throat until they were shown a short man who smirked to them. "Waldo: the ventriloquist," he then came to the luggage dolly to show a tall dummy. "And here's Hufnagel, my dummy."

"Hi, Toots!" The dummy greeted.

"And I sit on his lap," Waldo replied as he demonstrated. "It's funny. Not at all demeaning. Right?"

"Well... That is a pretty unique spin on a traditional talent." Cherry had to admit.

"Yeah, sure is." Velma said.

"Right. Catch you later." Waldo replied before walking off until he ran into punk rock chicks who cooed to him.

"Oh, my gosh, he's adorable~" The green-haired one cooed.

"I am not adorable; I am not." Waldo smirked.

"Girl-o-Saurus Rex," Cherry looked excited. "I actually liked the show when they came on."

"You've heard of them?" Velma asked.

"Atticus and Patch made me watch the show when I came over for dinner once," Cherry rolled her eyes. "It was the only time I enjoyed it."

"Oh, my gosh, we are so metal, heh." The green-haired girl giggled.

"Cathy. It's so not metal to say, 'Oh, my gosh, we're so metal'." The blue-haired girl warned.

"Right. Sorry," The green-haired girl smiled bashfully. "We were a country act until three months ago."

"We agreed we weren't telling people that," The purple-haired girl scolded. Now, come on, look surly."

The green-haired girl then gave a gloomy scowl before going off with them.

"Hmm..." Cherry glanced at them for that. "Quite..." She soon saw a hockey team walking in. "Uh... The Mighty Ducks?" 

"Hope that wasn't too much of a wild ride." Shaz said as he came with the hockey team, along with a cute blonde girl as he held her hand while walking with the others.

"It was fun." The cute blonde girl smiled.

"Hey, Shaz, I haven't seen you since you tried out for the team." Cherry said.

"Oh, hey," Shaz replied. "Cherry, right?"

"Yeah, that's me," Cherry said before smirking. "And who's this?"

"Erm... My name is Olivia." The blonde girl smiled bashfully.

"It's nice to meet you," Cherry smirked. "So are you two girlfriend and boyfriend?"

"Um... Well..." Olivia blushed. "Yes, we are... My friends brought me to a game once, so we got to meet Shaz after the game."

"How cute." Cherry smirked to them.

Olivia and Shaz soon started to blush.

"So, uh, what're you guys doing here?" Cherry asked.

"We're gonna sing a duet," Olivia smiled bashfully. "I also hope that if we win the money, we could donate to the veterinarian who takes such great care of my little fuzzball."

"That's nice." Cherry said.

Olivia smiled, taking out her hamster's cage, nuzzling noses with her pet.

Meanwhile, Atticus and Mo went to go with Fred and Daphne, looking in a dark room which was a bit creepy.

"Fred, why do ghosts and monsters and stuff turn up wherever we go?" Daphne soon asked. "Is it something about us?"

"No, this happens to everyone." Fred told her.

"How so?" Mo asked.

"It would be too much of a coincidence if this only happened to us," Fred replied. "So logically everyone must run into ghosts and monsters all the time."

"Maybe." Atticus shrugged.

"Really?" Daphne asked.

"Sure, it's simple math," Fred replied. "They must be everywhere."

"Meh." Mo shrugged until they soon heard some crashing.

"Who's there?" Atticus asked.

No one appeared to be there. They all looked around and soon came to the door before opening it to see a man who looked scared and that scared them since they didn't know that he was there.

"What are you doing here?" The man demanded.

"What are you doing here?" Fred retorted.

"I'm Mel Richmond. I own this building, and I have a right to lurk in it," The man glared to them before glancing at them for a few moments. "You must be from the show, right?"

"Yeah." Mo nodded.

"Right. Well, uh, good luck to you," Mel smiled to Fred and Daphne. "You make a cute couple."

Atticus and Mo smiled innocently, though Daphne had a bit of an interesting reaction. 

"We're not a cute couple. I mean, heh, we're not a couple, so we can't be a cute one, although we would be if we were," Daphne babbled nervously. "Which we're not. I mean, it's not that we don't like each other, we just don't 'like' like each other. It's not likely. Right, Fred? Or do we? We don't, right? Do we? Why are we talking about this so much? Can we change the subject now, please? This is none of your business."

'Wow.' Mo thought to herself.

"Uh, Mr. Richmond, do you know anything about the Phantom?" Fred then asked the man.

"Argh, that business again," Mel groaned. "Look, that was all way before my time. I inherited this place a few years ago when my father passed away."

"We're sorry for your loss." Atticus said.

"Me too, it's costing me thousands of dollars a week," Mel replied. "I can't do anything with it. People are still spooked by that Phantom nonsense and that was 35 years ago."

"Mind telling us what happened?" Atticus asked.

"Well... I guess I could... It happened back in the 70's..." Mel sighed as he began to reminisce. "Before that there had been some oddities. But, you know, nothing scary. But when my father turned the place into a disco, all heck broke loose. The Phantom wreaked havoc every night. People thought it was part of the show. Despite the Phantom, the club flourished. Customers looked forward to seeing him. Even though it was said his mask hid a terrible deformity. No one was ever really hurt, but then the Phantom became more destructive. He even set fires. Then one night, he destroyed the disco ball. After that, no one came back. Finally, my father had to close the place down. I hadn't been able to rent it at all until the Talent Star people came around. Now they say the Phantom's back. Well, maybe I'll get lucky and he'll burn the place down, so I can collect the insurance money, eh? Or maybe I should put on a cape and mask and do it myself," he then started to laugh, but then stopped laughing as soon as the others glared at him in suspicion. "What? Ah, now, don't look at me like that. You see, that's why I don't make jokes."

'This guy sure is interesting.' Mo thought to herself.

"Um... Thank you for your time, Mr. Richmond." Atticus slowly blinked.

"Of course, young man." Mel replied.


	3. Chapter 3

Meanwhile, Shaggy, Scooby, and Patch were heading off to the library.

"Now, I think this is the way to the library." Patch said.

"You know why I like going to the library, you guys?" Shaggy prompted the others.

"Um... The books?" Patch guessed.

"Nope, the fact that it's far, far away from that phantom guy." Shaggy replied.

"Of course." Patch said.

As they were walking, Shaggy and Scooby smelled something which made them smile as soon as they saw the restaurant.

"Hmm... Something sure smells good..." Patch said before Shaggy and Scooby beating him to the restaurant. "Why am I not surprised?" Patch soon began to follow after them to the restaurant. 

They soon smelled pizza once they came inside which made all of them quite hungry.

"Oh, Rolly was right..." Patch smiled to himself.

"Gimme eight!" Shaggy gushed.

"Right this way, sir." The waitress replied.

Shaggy, Scooby, and Patch soon went inside. The waitress soon brought them into a booth and gave them their menus.

"Do you have anything bigger than the extra-extra large?" Shaggy asked.

"Yeah, but it's not on the menu," The waitress replied. "Oh, and you have to sign a release saying we're not responsible if you die."

"Um, okay." Patch said.

"We'll take it!" Shaggy beamed while Scooby nodded.

"Alrighty, but I'm gonna have to move you to another table." The waitress told them.

"Why?" Patch asked.

"'Cuz this one is smaller than your pizza." The waitress replied.

"Whoa." Patch said.

An alarm blared as the kitchen doors opened to show the ultimate pizza of the restaurant. One worker backed up with airport lights as the cooks brought out a very long table with the pizza on it. Shaggy looked at the pizza like he was in love.

"Whoa... That's a big pizza..." Patch's eyes widened. "Rolly would love it here."

Scooby looked confused towards Patch, not knowing who Rolly was.

"He's one of my brothers," Patch told Scooby. "He's got a great big appetite."

"I wanna meet him." Scooby smiled.

"He's back on the farm with my dog family." Patch told him.

"Do you think we could meet him sometime?" Scooby asked.

"Well, I don't know when, but yeah," Patch smiled. "That sounds nice."

"Could we have a moment alone with our pizza?" Shaggy asked the waitress.

"Okie dokie," The waitress replied. "We can wrap up the leftovers for ya."

"With these two eating, there won't be any leftovers." Patch told her.

"Like, Patch, care to join us?" Shaggy offered.

"I could eat." Patch smiled, joining Shaggy and Scooby in the eating.

"See? I told ya this was the pizza place." Nosedive said as he came in with Grin and Shaz.

"Yes, you did." Shaz nodded.

"I do hunger for some pizza myself... Something does smell good..." Grin said to them.

"Whoa!" Nosedive's eyes widened, seeing Shaggy, Scooby, and Patch eating. "Check out THAT pizza!"

"That has got to be the biggest pizza I've ever seen." Shaz said.

The waitress looked a bit surprised. They soon finished within seconds, even though they left behind a rather big mess. The people seemed to glare at them at first until they soon applauded Shaggy, Scooby, and Patch for finishing the ultimate pizza.

"We'd just like to say that it's an honor to be in your presence." The waitress smiled.

"That was incredible." Shaz said.

"Like, think nothing of it." Shaggy smiled proudly.

Someone new soon came into the restaurant.

"Whoa... Who invited Snooki from Jersey Shore?" Shaz grimaced.

A bunch of bodyguards walked in and one tossed rose petals on the floor as a woman with violet-colored hair soon came in behind them. A photographer took her picture, and people surrounded her as they wanted her autograph, and chanted her name.

"Who's that?" Scooby asked.

"That's Lotte," Shaggy replied. "She's on Talent Star, and she's already won a bunch of other talent shows."

"That lady's got some freaky looking nails." Nosedive said.

"Nails? I thought humans suddenly grew claws." Grin replied.

"She was great on America's Got Singing, and Sing or Die, and Singetty-Sing-Song-Sing." The waitress added.

Lotte was still signing autographs, then she glared at the little girl who smiled at her hopefully. "I do not sign for anyone wearing tights and shorts. Because it's wrong!" she then told the girl.

The girl gasped to that in horror and she soon broke down crying and ran off.

"Harsh much?" Nosedive asked.

Lotte was walking towards the cowardly duo until the waitress blocked her way with a notepad and pencil. "Leave us!" she then demanded.

The waitress nodded and backed away. Patch didn't like this woman's behavior one bit.

"I want you to take a message to Daphne and Fred," Lotte said as she slashed her fingernails against the wall behind them. "Tell them they don't stand a chance! I will crush all who oppose me! I will feast upon their blood! And their families will weep over their smoldering corpses!" she then grabbed Shaggy while Scooby shivered. "I will leave nothing but their scars, SO SWEARS LOTTE! L-O-T-T--" she then signed her name in her nails on Shaggy's shirt before finishing on Scooby next in a menacing kind of way. "E! Lotte!"

"Cruella deVil, I think you might have some competition." Patch said to himself. 

"I think you should back off, lady." Nosedive told Lotte.

"Says who?" Lotte glared, looking right into his eyes. 

Nosedive gulped slightly before making Shaz face her.

"Well... Says me!" Shaz glared to Lotte. "I don't like your behavior!"

"You gonna try to stop me, kid?" Lotte challenged. 

Shaz glared right into Lotte's eyes. Lotte glared back, showing no fear of course. Shaz glared right back, showing no fear either. 

Lotte soon growled while Shaz kept his glare. "Oh,... Fine... What do you want me to do?" she then rolled her eyes.

"At least say sorry to that poor girl who just wanted your autograph." Shaz replied. 

"Ugh... Fine..." Lotte groaned.

Shaz crossed his arms and nodded firmly.

"How'd you do that?!" Nosedive asked Shaz. 

"Yeah, how did you do that?" Patch added.

"It's just something I've always done against bullies who got in my way before I met the Mighty Ducks," Shaz smiled. "You gotta keep up on your feet like how I do. Especially when you have a little lady friend to protect."

"Cool." Nosedive smiled back.

"It was nothing." Shaz replied.

"Most impressive," Grin said. "I just wish I could've been like that, calm and quiet, when I was younger before I met Tai Quack Do when I was around your age."

Shaz understood why Grin wished that. They soon went to get some pizza while Shaggy and Scooby felt scared of Lotte.

"I still think Cruella deVil has competition for a scary lady," Patch said, referring to Lotte. He soon saw Shaggy and Scooby running out, scared. "Hey! Guys! It's okay!" he then called out before looking over. "Uh, nice meeting you, Shaz, and your friends, but I better catch up to those guys."

"Fair enough," Shaz smirked. "Sometimes we have to do the same thing for Nosedive."

"Hey!" Nosedive pouted.

"Sorry." Shaz grinned bashfully.

"Hmph." Nosedive crossed his arms.

Patch soon went to go after Shaggy and Scooby. And where they were rushing to the hotel.

Cherry and Velma did research on the internet as they were in the hotel room together with Cherry's laptop. Shaggy and Scooby soon ran inside to hide away in fright, passing by the smart girls.

"Hey, guys." Shaggy said.

"Where have you been?" Velma replied. "The library closed hours ago!"

"Uh... The what?" Shaggy asked.

"The library," Cherry reminded. "The place you were supposed to go to to do research."

Shaggy and Scooby looked to her.

"Never mind..." Cherry sighed. "Velma and I found plenty of information online. There was definitely a Phantom back in the 70's, but I don't think the one we saw was the same person. This is from earlier tonight." she then said, showing a picture.

"You're right, he would have been much older." Mo said.

"Where did you get that picture?" Daphne asked.

"It's all over the Internet," Velma told her. "Talent Star is really milking this for publicity," she then showed two photos to compare and contrast. "See? The outfit is different. What we saw today was someone taking advantage of the old stories for their own purposes."

"Yeah, but who?" Mo asked.

"But you saw him disappear, right?" Daphne asked. "He must be a real ghost."

"I saw it on a monitor," Velma clarified. "It could have been faked."

"So, who are the likely suspects?" Fred asked.

"I'm voting for that spoiled brat's parents," Cherry glared, referring to the Damons. "They would do anything to make sure their daughter would be the winner."

"You're right," Fred agreed. "The Phantom seems interested in making sure Chrissy wins the competition."

"What about Mr. 'Fantastic'?" Atticus asked, using an imitation of Brick.

"Oh, you mean that blonde kid, your new rival?" Cherry asked. 

"No! I'm talking about Brick." Atticus told her. 

"Oh, yeah! ...Uh..." Cherry blinked.

"He's the host of the show." Mo reminded Cherry.

"Oh... Right..." Cherry said. "Sorry, forgot since I don't watch the show as much as you guys." 

"He would use the Phantom to boost ratings." Mo said.

"Of course!" Patch replied. "Oh, he has to be behind this! Ugh, a cruel TV show host. Who would've thought it?"

"Yes, he was a little too quick to capitalize on the Phantom for publicity." Velma nodded to them in agreement. 

"Don't forget to add Mr. Ottoman." Atticus said.

"Uh, what about him?" Cherry asked.

"He's creepy." Daphne replied.

"I meant 'does he have a motive'?" Cherry explained her question.

"Isn't creepy a motive?" Daphne asked. 

"She's not wrong." Velma shrugged.

"Ooh! Ooh! You gotta put Lotte down!" Shaggy suggested.

"You think Lotte is the phantom?" Mo asked.

"I think she's scarier than the Phantom," Shaggy replied. "Put her down."

Velma soon began to put Lotte down as a suspect.

"Okay, what do we know?" Cherry then asked, logically.

"Hmm... Everyone on this list but Mel Richmond and Lotte have been seen at the same time as the Phantom." Velma told the others.

Fred soon yawned and stretched. "Guys, it's getting late," he then said after yawning. "We have the dress rehearsal in the morning, and the big show tomorrow night. I say we get some sleep." he then suggested.

"Agreed." Atticus yawned.

"I do feel a bit sleepy." Patch soon yawned and stretched himself.

Everyone soon went to get some sleep.

"Hmm... I guess I could use a little rest myself..." Cherry said, feeling tired herself. "We did have a long drive into Chicago." 

And just as Shaggy and Scooby went to leave out the front door of the girls' hotel room, Lotte was shown at the door as soon as Shaggy opened it to leave with Scooby, and seeing the woman frightened the two of them. "I WILL BREAK YOU!" the woman sneered until they slammed the door shut to avoid her claw-like fingernails.

"Man, and I thought Logan had long nails." Atticus smirked to himself.

"You guys realize you can go through that door, right?" Mo asked as she pointed to the door that led to the hotel room that was connected to the girls' hotel room.

Velma opened it and Shaggy and Scooby ran through it.

"Boys..." Mo rolled her emerald green eyes.

Daphne smiled innocently to Fred.

"See ya in the morning." Fred waved as he went to go in the other room.

Sometime later, everyone was now asleep.... Well, almost everyone. Something seemed to wake up the girls.

"...Please be a vampire coming to take me to the Underworld..." Cherry mumbled as she woke up. "I was having one of the best dreams."

"Where's Daphne?" Mo asked as she noticed Daphne's bed empty.

"Huh?" Cherry blinked, looking over there. "...Where IS she...?"

They came out of bed and soon came to the balcony to see Daphne there as she stared out into the city.

"I think Daphne's in a soap opera now." Cherry commented.

"We should find out what's wrong." Velma said.

Cherry rubbed her eyes before sliding on her glasses as they came to talk with the redheaded girl.

"Trouble sleeping?" Velma asked.

"Yeah." Daphne sniffled.

"Daphne, is something wrong?" Mo asked.

"I'm fine." Daphne told them.

"You're obviously not fine, Daphne," Velma replied. "Why don't you tell us about it?"

"I'm in love with Fred. There, I said it." Daphne soon confessed.

"This is news?" Cherry deadpanned.

"Oh, really? We had no idea." Mo rolled her eyes.

"Really? Wow, I never would have... Gosh, that's a shocker." Velma even added in.

"I've kept it a secret for so long," Daphne said to them. "I just had to tell someone."

"Well then, why not tell Fred?" Cherry asked.

"Oh, no. Oh, my gosh, no. I was hoping this competition would bring us closer, but even after all the time rehearsing and performing together, I just can't say anything," Daphne frowned before taking out a piece of paper. "I even wrote a song, to that tune Fred composed. It explains how I feel about him, but if I think about singing it, I feel like I'm going to throw up or pass out or both."

Cherry let out a small sigh. "Listen, Daph, love is the only chance of happiness you'll get in this life," She then began to motivate her friend a little. "And if you're gonna let a little thing like rejection stand in your way, then maybe you should stay right there on the ground, because people are gonna be walking all over you for the rest of your life."

Mo could tell Cherry was trying to help.

"I guess you may have a point there..." Daphne said.

"Oh, but I can't... Maybe if I win Talent Star, that would give me the confidence. Maybe then I could talk to him," Daphne said before grabbing the other girls, shaking them out of mass hysteria. "Guys, we have to win. We just have to."

"But winning isn't everything!" Cherry yelped out.

"Maybe your song will help you tell him!" Mo added.

"You guys are the best." Daphne told them.

"Well, you always look out for me..." Cherry replied.

"It's true," Mo smiled. "You seem to see Cherry as your younger sister."

"I always seem to think of Cherry as the younger sister I never had." Daphne smiled back.

"Oh... Um... Well... Thank you for that." Cherry soon said, sounding appreciative from that.

"Anyway, we better get back to sleep." Mo said.

Daphne soon yawned from that, as if on cue.

"Yep, bedtime." Cherry said.

They soon left the balcony and went to go back to sleep.

"Hopefully the rest of the night will be peaceful." Mo yawned.

Cherry nodded as she drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, the guys were asleep, except for maybe two.

Scooby-Doo, you awake?" Shaggy asked. "I can't sleep."

"Reah, me neither," Scooby said as he sat up on the bed before looking to the floor. "You want the bed?"

"No," Shaggy frowned. "It's been almost two hours since we had that pizza, and I'm starving! Maybe the hotel has a vending machine or something."

"Ugh, you two talking about food is making me hungry." Patch groaned.

"Like, do you wanna come with us, Patch?" Shaggy invited.

"Well, I can't stop thinking about food now, so yes." Patch said.

"Now you're talkin'." Scooby smiled.

Patch rolled his eyes and soon went to follow them to get something to eat. As they went to get something to eat, they saw Leo and Shaz coming out and they could already tell why.

"Hey, it's those kids." Patch commented.

"Let me guess; you guys couldn't sleep either so decided to get something to eat too?" Shaz asked the others, guessing.

"Yeah, pretty much." Patch replied.

"Guess we all have food on the brain tonight." Leo commented.

"Guess so." Shaz smiled.

"Come on, let's go find something to eat." Patch said.

They soon wandered down the hallways together to take a look around to find some food. They then bumped into the Phantom, which, of course, scared Shaggy and Scooby.

"Oh, come on! Seriously?! Tonight?!" Patch asked the Phantom out of frustration.

The Phantom soon gave a spooky sounding laugh. Leo soon glared as he let out a dinosaur roar.

"What the...?" Patch glanced at him.

Even Shaz and the Phantom didn't expect that and where Shaggy and Scooby were scared from the dinosaur roar.

"Oh... Sorry..." Leo said to them. "I kinda have dinosaur DNA."

"Um... Why? HOW?!" Patch asked.

"No time for that!" Shaggy yelped as he soon ran with Scooby.

"I'll explain after we capture this Phantom." Leo told Patch.

"Well... All right," Patch replied. "That was just... Erm... Different."

"Yeah, I know, but come on, let's go." Leo told him out of determination.

"Leo's right." Shaz said.

They soon went off to take care of this Phantom while Shaggy and Scooby were obviously scared.

"I swear, Shaggy, one of these days you're gonna need to see a doctor about being scared all the time." Patch sighed.

They were now in a chase scene. The Phantom laughed as he chased after them.

"You're not gonna be laughing real long!" Shaz glared.

"What are you planning?" Patch asked him.

"Oh, just watch," Shaz smirked. "You could say... People 'marvel' at my excellence." 

"There's no way you're him." Patch said, referring to the DC Captain Marvel.

"Just wait and see, kid." Shaz smirked.

Patch gave a glance from that. Shaz soon ran off with Leo and Patch to stop the Phantom with whatever he was up to. 

"Whoever this Phantom is, he's getting on my nerves." Patch said.

"You ain't the only one... Take THIS!" Shaz said and soon shot a magic lightning at the Phantom, showing what he could do. 

"Whoa." Patch and Leo smiled.

"How was that?" Shaz smirked to Patch. "Can ya say 'Shazaam'?!"

"You just can't be..." Patch replied. "You're a kid..." 

"Well, I'm not Captain Marvel, but I am a new hero." Shaz told him.

"So... Your name Shaz...?" Patch asked.

"Coincidence," Shaz replied. "I thought I found my parents once, but... Well... They're kinda like foster parents whenever I can see them even if they had to lie to me, but I do love Kara and James like family after that adventure we had in Sunnyville." 

"Kara?" Patch asked. "As in Supergirl?"

Shaz looked a bit hesitant about saying so.

"Hey, you're not the only one with super secrets," Patch said. "You can tell me."

"Uh... Should I?" Shaz replied. "I mean... Um... I... I don't know if I should... I mean, I am a Mighty Duck, but..." 

"Calm down, I already know about their origin story." Patch told him.

Shaz looked over.

"So, Kara is Supergirl, right?" Patch asked.

"Yes, she is..." Shaz replied. "She and James come over once in a while... Say hi... Bring me some presents... We go out... They take good care of me whenever I'm away from the Pond. It's a lot of fun, they really feel like parents whenever it's just the three of us." 

"That's nice of them." Leo smiled.

"Yeah... It's pretty great." Shaz smiled back with a light sigh. 

They continued to chase after the Phantom.

"Now... Where are ya, Phantom of the Talent Show?" Leo glared as he looked around.

The Phantom's laughter was soon heard as he scared away Shaggy and Scooby. 

"Just follow Scooby and Shaggy's screams." Patch said.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Leo smirked. "Sounds like the Raptors after they learned my name after I joined the other Extreme Dinosaurs."

"Whenever there's a mystery, the monsters and ghosts always seem to find Scooby and Shaggy." Patch said.

"They can probably smell their fear," Shaz guessed before rolling his eyes. "It's like whenever the Saurians are around and Phil panics and hides back in the Pond while I save the day with the other Mighty Ducks."

"Wow." Patch said.

Shaggy and Scooby were soon trying to hide. The Phantom snarled as he chased after them and some hotel workers were doing their night shift until they ran into the Phantom, Shaggy, and Scooby in the hallways.

"This is interesting." Shaz said.

Shaggy and Scooby soon crashed into other laundry hampers, falling out onto the floor with the sheets inside. Dewey soon came out one door and ran into them as they soon kept running from the Phantom.

"This Phantom just won't stop." Patch said.

"He will once I get him." Leo said before he soon dashed off to grab the Phantom, going at the speed of a velociraptor. 

"He is not normal." Patch said.

"What even is normal anymore?" Shaz replied. "I live with a bunch of alien ducks who play ice hockey in their downtime."

"Fair enough." Patch shrugged.

The Phantom soon continued to chase after Shaggy and Scooby, making Scooby run after accidentally knocking down Dewey. Patch, Leo, and Shaz continued to chase after Phantom. Shaggy and Scooby then ran into the next door, but didn't make it out. The Phantom laughed and soon opened the doors once they came inside.

"Okay, I've had enough of you!" Leo said as he then tackled down the Phantom after charging after him.

"Yeah! You got him!" Patch cheered.

"All in a day's work." Leo smiled to him.

"Like, take it easy there, Phantom dude!" Shaggy shivered.

"Yeah!" Scooby added.

"Hey, guys, it's okay!" Leo told them. "I got him!"

"Yeah!" Shaz nodded.

Shaggy and Scooby soon came out to see Leo holding down the Phantom. The Phantom soon let out a small smirk.

"What're you smirking at?" Leo smirked back.

The Phantom soon laughed and disappeared from underneath him.

"No way!" Leo then gasped.

"How did he...?" Shaz asked.

"I... I don't know... This has never happened to me before..." Leo blinked rapidly. "I'd say he was a real ghost, but my sister and I don't believe in ghosts."

"Maybe he went down a trapdoor." Patch said.

"Hmm... Probably..." Leo replied.

The others soon came out, woken up from some of the Phantom chaos.

"It's okay, everyone," Brick smiled as he appeared. "He's gone, no harm done. Heh, everybody back to bed. Fantastic," he then began to walk back the other way. "This Phantom's gonna get us a 40 share."

"Hey. No lemons." Shaggy said.

Patch sniffed around. "Hmm... You're right." he then said, still having a strong sense of smell.

"Reah." Scooby added.

Lotte soon appeared which startled Shaggy and Scooby. ""Enough with the screaming. Gonna skin you alive. Good night." she glared to them as she soon stormed off.

"Diva..." Cherry mumbled.

"No argument here..." Mo added.

Dewey soon rushed out to clean everything, feeling panicked.

"Oh, great, this guy again." Cherry rolled her eyes.

"He sure loves to clean." Atticus said.

Dewey walked past them, carrying a bucket of water and a scrubber, then started scrubbing the floor. "A little baking soda and water will get that out." he muttered to himself.

"Oh, I'm sure that the hotel staff will--" Fred started.

"Oh, no, no, no, please," Dewey told them. "I should get 45 minutes of scrubbing out of this."

"That smoke bomb seemed like something a magician would do, and The Great Pauldini is nowhere to be seen." Velma remarked.

"True, but do they have a motive?" Fred asked them.

"This just keeps getting more and more mysterious." Daphne commented.

"Uh, Fred, why do you have a net?" Patch asked as he saw Fred with a net.

"Oh, well, I thought I could use it to catch the Phantom with, but someone beat me to it." Fred replied, referring to Leo. 

"But how did you find a net so fast?" Mo asked Fred.

"Um, well, I..." Fred smiled bashfully.

"Oh, my gosh! You sleep with a net, don't you?" Cherry gasped with a smirk. 

"Lots of people do." Fred defended.

'Whatever he has to tell himself.' Mo thought to herself with a smirk.

Some of the others soon laughed a little to Fred's claims.

They soon went back to sleep that night.

"So, Leo... What's up with you?" Patch asked.

"I have dinosaur DNA." Leo replied. 

"Okay, but how?" Patch asked.

"My parents injected me when I was a baby," Leo said as he rolled up his sleeve to show a special birthmark. "I was a very weak baby when I was born... My parents didn't think I could make it... So my dad, being a scientist, created a concoction to protect myself and any friends I might make in need. So I can do just about anything a dinosaur can do." 

"That's incredible," Shaz smiled. "But knowing how greedy and evil some people are, some people must have wanted your father to either give you up or tell them how he made the concoction." 

Leo let out a small sigh.

"Erm... Where exactly are your parents?" Patch asked.

"They died in a fire a few years ago." Leo replied. 

"We're so sorry for your loss." Patch frowned.

"It's okay..." Leo said softly with a sharp sigh. "It was just me and Luna for a while... We were on our own... We had to take care of ourselves... Earn money.... Get some food... Luckily though, I got to meet my heroes: The Extreme Dinosaurs." 

"It must be great to live with them." Patch smiled.

"It is," Leo smiled back. "Now my sister and I don't have to worry about bill collectors, foster care, or anything like that ever again! Plus, I love hanging with the dinosaurs to keep up my own strength." 

"That does sound cool." Patch said.

"Oh, it is~..." Leo smiled with a soft sigh. "I don't know what my sister and I would do if we hadn't met Spike when he briefly left the team." 

"Why did he briefly leave the team?" Shaz asked.

"He quit," Leo replied. "They had a bit of a disagreement, so Spike decided to become a wrestler and monster truck fighter called Terror-Dactyl." 

"Why would he call himself that?" Patch asked.

"I have NO idea..." Leo rolled his eyes.

"Not the best name..." Shaz replied. "I would've said 'TriceraWrecker' or something... He's the triceratops, right?"

"Yep." Leo nodded. 

"Then yeah, I would have said 'TriceraWrecker'." Shaz said.

"Well, it was nice meeting you guys, but I should go to bed," Leo said as he yawned and stretched. "This was kinda cool."

"Yeah, it was." Patch smiled. 

They soon went back to their hotel rooms to get back to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day came, and everyone was ready for the dress rehearsal. They were waiting since there was a long line.

"Whoa." Mo said.

As the stage was getting set up, Dewey was dusting off the list.

"Okay, people. We've only got one dress rehearsal, so let's get it right," Dewey told the others. "Chrissy Damon, you're up first."

Barb and Lance seemed to be arguing backstage as Berry did her creator's make-up.

"I so hope Chrissy loses." Patch whispered to the others.

"Patch, that's mean," Cherry glared before smirking. "I hope the Phantom haunts her dreams for all eternity." 

"Same here." Luna added.

"If not him, then I shall..." Cherry grinned. "All hail me... ALL HAIL--"

The others looked to her.

"Heh... Whoops..." Cherry grinned bashfully to them. 

"Next time, you should just keep that to yourself." Luna told her.

"Erm... Yes..." Cherry replied.

"Chrissy!" Dewey called.

"Ready!" Chrissy smiled innocently with her parents and imaginary friend before running onstage.

A pink spotlight shined down on her and some peppy music played as she began to sing her little song, and where it a song that would have been more appropriate for someone older. Cherry, Atticus, Mo, and Patch all cringed from the song's subject matter. Chrissy continued to sing and began to get a bit aggressive, even with the cameraman.

"How old that girl again?!" Cherry asked.

"Not old enough to be singing THAT!" Mo replied. 

"Why would her parents approve her singing that song?" Patch asked.

Chrissy soon finished her song and her family applauded it. She then walked backstage, dropping her microphone.

"Next is Emma Gale," Dewey called. "Has anyone cleaned this microphone recently?" he then asked.

"Like an hour ago?" Colette replied.

"Unbelievable. Are we savages?" Dewey replied as he cleaned up the microphone.

"No, worse, we're normal people." Cherry smirked.

Emma was playing her violin which she was pretty good at and just about everyone was impressed with it. Leo and Luna soon came to get their instruments ready. Leo smiled to the stage before looking to Emma and gasping like she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Luna could tell her big brother was falling in love with Emma.

"She's amazing for her age." Mo commented.

"She is," Daphne added before she turned to see a man and a woman beside them. "Oh, uh, are you Emma's parents?"

"Hey, Mike and Meg Gale, pleased to meet you," The man smiled. "Boy, isn't she terrific?"

"She sure is." Leo smiled out of love as she watched Emma perform.

"It seems like Emma has a good shot at winning." Fred smiled to the couple.

"Oh, we sure hope so," Meg smiled back. "Without that prize money, the bank's going to take our farm."

"That's terrible." Luna frowned.

"Yeah. It's been in our family for five generations," Meg replied. "Mike's grandparents are buried there."

"So, uh, what are you guys gonna do with the money if you win?" Mike asked them.

The other participants just looked to each other sadly. Leo and Luna were going to use the prize money on bills and food. They all looked to each other as Emma continued to play her violin. Soon enough, Emma stopped playing her violin everyone clapped for her. Leo seemed to clap harder than the others and soon continued to clap, pretending to try to squish a bug and put his hands behind his back. Luna simply rolled her eyes playfully at her brother.

"Up next is... Lunesta and Leonidas Stardust!" Dewey announced.

"That's us... Try to focus on the music, 'kay, Bro?" Luna said before walking off with her keyboard. 

"I will." Leo told her as he came walking out to the stage with his guitar.

Leo and Luna soon set up their instruments together.

Emma passed by with a small smile to the Stardust siblings. "Good luck to you both."

"Um, thanks." Luna replied.

"Yeah, thanks." Leo added.

Emma smiled to them as she went to go and see her parents. The spotlight soon came down on the siblings as they began to play their music before singing one of their songs.

"Money can't buy the things we really need, Like the sun or the rain or the air we breathe, Can't buy a loving touch~" Leo began to sing the song.

"Or the freedom we miss so much~," Luna joined in. "Yeah, if you look inside your heart I know you'll see, That money can't buy the things you really need~"

"Whoa, they're really good." Fred said.

"Money can't buy, Money can't buy, Money can't buy the things you really need~" Leo and Luna sang together. "Money can't buy, Money can't buy the things you really need~"

"They sound amazing." Cherry said.

Leo and Luna soon played the final notes before finishing their little song number.

"All the diamonds and pearls can't put love in the world, If you look inside your heart I know you'll see~" Luna sang. "That money can't buy the things that you really need~"

"Money can't buy, Money can't buy, No money can't buy the things that you really need~" Leo and Luna sang, finishing their song.

"That was a nice song." Emma smiled to her parents.

"Sure seems like it." Mike smiled back to his daughter.

"That song was wonderful." Mo smiled.

"Very good..." Dewey said to the siblings. "Hmm... Let's see.. Who's next?"

Colette took a look at the form. "Atticus Fudo and Monique Brown?"

"Have fun, Nancy." Cherry wished to her best friend.

"We will." Atticus told her.

Mo soon took Atticus out with her.

"Another duet... All right... Let's see what you're made of." Dewey said.

Some very soft and fluffy music began to play like in a love ballad.

"This song is dedicated to the most amazing boy I know..." Mo whispered and soon began to sing, looking back to him, a bit emotionally. "I will always be with you, Makes no difference where your road takes you to, Even if we're apart, Now we're joined at the heart, Though our moments may be gone, You and I will still live on~"

"I will always be with you, I'll be by your side whatever you do for, the memories may fade, but the ones that we made are eternal as a star, I'm a part of who you are~" Atticus sang to Mo.

"And I'll be there with you in the sound of your laughter, I'll be in the tears you cry, 'Cuz the way you and I have touched one and other~," Atticus and Mo sang to each other. "Doesn't end with goodbye~"

Leo felt a little jealous of Atticus having a girlfriend like that as he had gotten older and interested in girls, mostly from when he first saw Emma, even if they didn't know each other. Emma looked back to Leo with a small smile, though the two looked away from each other and they both seemed to blush as the music swelled.

"I will always be with you, Like a guardian-angel constant and true, When you're lost in the night (Lost in the night)~," Atticus and Mo continued to sing to each other. "And you can't see the light, My love will see you through~"

"I will always be there~" Atticus sang to Mo.

"You'll have me there~" Mo sang back.

"I will always be with you~" Atticus and Mo sang to each other before kissing.

Cherry sniffled.

"You crying?" Patch asked.

"No, it's my allergies." Cherry replied.

Patch soon made a tissue appear and gave it to Cherry. Cherry took the tissues, though she did look emotional as Atticus and Mo came back after their song ended.

"That was so lovely." Daphne smiled at Atticus and Mo.

"Thanks, Daphne," Mo smiled back. "I thought it would be a nice song for us."

"I'd say it was a perfect song for you guys." Fred smiled back.

"Thanks, Fred." Atticus beamed.

"I think you two are up next." Cherry told Fred and Daphne.

Fred soon began to tune his guitar to get ready to go with Daphne.

Patch looked around before sighing. "Where did Shaggy and Scooby run off to this time?"

"I am seriously wondering if those two will ever stop running off." Mo groaned.

"Hopefully soon." Patch replied.

Fred and Daphne soon eventually had their turn with their own song.

"This song sounds like it came out of the 60's." Cherry commented.

"It really does." Mo said.

"I think I found Shaggy and Scooby." Leo said as he looked up.

The others soon looked up with Leo to see what he saw. Shaggy and Scooby were shown to be up in the rafters. 

"Must be hiding from that scary claw lady." Patch guessed.

"That must be it." Leo nodded.

"Next up is Lotte Lavoie." Dewey said.

"All right, all right! Throat spray!" Lotte demanded.

A bodyguard soon handed her her spray. Lotte took it and sprayed her throat before tossing it and taking her microphone as it was her time to shine.

"I hope her voice cracks." Patch said.

"I think it just did." Mo smirked.

"What a stroke of luck." Patch smirked back.

Lotte tried to sing, but she couldn't which made everyone look confused. She then coughed as her singing sounded very raspy and off-key. She then tried again, but it got worse.

"Who did this to me?!" Lotte gasped wheezily. "Someone is gonna pay for this! Someone is gonna pay!"

"Man, she sings worse than I do." Cherry said.

"She sounds like a dying horse." Patch said.

Lotte was soon removed from the stage.

"This reminds me even more of Phantom of the Opera." Cherry said to her friends.

"Yeah, only there aren't any sand bags dropping down." Mo said.

"Hmm... I don't see any sign of the Phantom though." Velma said to Cherry.

"Maybe the whole thing's over." Daphne replied.

"Highly doubt it." Atticus said.

"Same." Cherry had to agree.

"Waldo and Hufnagel?" Dewey called.

Waldo soon came onto the stage with his dummy.

"I'm not into ventriloquist dummies, but it's a clever and unique idea." Cherry said.

"Yeah, it really is." Patch nodded.

"Yeah, it's like a unique reversal." Mo said.

"Say, Hufnagel, are you an actor or a dummy?" Waldo asked his dummy.

"I don't know, what's the difference?" Hufnagel replied.

"I think the Phantom's striked again." Patch said as he saw something happening to the feet of the dummy.

"Oh, boy..." Cherry sighed from that.

"Hey, Hufnagel, do you... Smell something burning?" Waldo asked until he looked over.

Everyone then yelped as they saw a fireball on stage.

The phantom laughed as Velma put out the fireball then the lights went off. "Christine must win!" he then proclaimed.

"Security, find that Phantom," Dewey demanded. "Find him, find him!"

"This guy isn't done yet." Patch said.

"Figures... And I was starting to perk up a little." Cherry replied.

Waldo was dragging Hufnagel backstage.

"Hey, you're not leaving, are you, buddy?" Brick asked him.

"No, heh, I thought I'd stay and risk my life for a stupid talent show." Waldo smiled before glaring sarcastically.

"Hey, that's fanta--Hey!" Brick replied.

"Smart decision." Patch said.

"Of course I'm leaving, and the rest of you will too, if you have any sense," Waldo told the others before coming up to the punk rockers and held out something for them. "Ahem. My card."

The punk girls looked excited about that, especially the green-haired one.

"Girl-O-Saurus Rex, you're on!" Dewey called out.

"Let's see how the Phantom gets them to quit." Luna said.

"If that Phantom comes back and he tries to get you, he is dead." Leo told his sister.

The punk girls soon began to play their instruments, only for their guitars to get destroyed along with the drums. The drum rolled down the theater.

"Yep, something tells me he got to their instruments." Mo nodded.

"Christine must win!" The Phantom laughed.

"Pretty motivated, ain't he?" Cherry commented in a Bugs Bunny voice.

This caused Luna to giggle as that was funny of Cherry. The security guards soon ran all around as the talent show was being ruined thanks to the Phantom.

"Uh, Mr. Ottoman, should we get the next act up?" Collette asked.

"I'm not sure if that's a safe idea!" Dewey shivered.

Shaz knew that he would have to wait much later for his act.

"There are still people who need to go on!" Brick told Dewey. "You can't quit now!"

"All right... One more..." Dewey said before pointing at Shaz. "You, come on down."

Shaz soon walked onto the stage. Olivia poked her head out.

"Okay, uh, kid, whenever you're ready." Dewey said.

The other Mighty Ducks soon looked hopeful for Shaz.

'What is his act anyway?' Patch thought to himself.

Shaz cleared his throat as he soon walked off and brought out some weights. 

"Of course." Cherry said.

Shaz soon began to juggle the weights to start off his unique act for Dewey and Colette.

"Impressive." Dewey nodded.

"Not bad, Shaz." Atticus smiled from backstage.

"I think he's awesome." Olivia whispered before blushing.

Shaz soon caught each weight before bending them together into a loop. A saw soon came out, cutting against the stage floor, making him fall through it, crashing with his weights.

"Okay!" Shaz glared as he jumped back out. "Who's the comedian?!"

"We'll give you one guess." Mo said. 

"The Phantom." Shaz glared.

"Maybe." Cherry replied.

"Augh!" Shaz yelled out and soon went running. "Come on out, Phantom!"

"The Phantom sure isn't cutting corners." Mo said.

"I bet he's with the Saurians!" Shaz glared.

"I don't think so, kid." Cherry replied.

"He's probably just trying to get all the other competitors to quit so then Christine can win." Patch said.

"Chrissy!" Barb and Lance snapped.

"I don't care!" Patch replied.

"You can't talk to us like that!" Lance glared.

"You guys do spoil your daughter a bit," Diana said to them. "I mean, you asked me to give her singing lessons, and she took it a bit too far, and it's swelled up her head like you and her fame."

"Couldn't agree more." Cherry nodded.

"You stay out of this too!" Lance glared. "I could sue you for all you're worth!"

Cherry soon yawned as he ranted and raved. "Are you done yet?" she then asked, bored.

"Do you know who I am?!" Lance glared.

"A boring loudmouth who needs a life outside of his daughter's career and needs to learn how to discipline her otherwise she'll grow up to be a Young Republican?" Cherry smirked.

"Sounds about right to me." Atticus smirked back.

Lance glared at them, looking very aggressive before storming off.

"Gee, I think that guy would be a good Phantom." Cherry said to Atticus.

"Yeah, but I highly doubt it's him." Atticus said.

"I'm sorry about him..." Diana sighed. "Barb and Lance just don't listen to me when it comes to my niece."

"We can tell." Mo said.

Later on...

"We've gotta do something," Fred said. "Velma, you've seen all the acts, right?" he then asked.

"Yeah." Velma replied.

"Who do you think the front-runners are? You know, the only ones left." Fred said.

"Honestly? You guys, that Shaz kid, those Stardust siblings, Atticus and Mo, the violin girl and Chrissy." Velma replied.

"So if the Phantom wants Chrissy to win, he'll try to get rid of Emma, Leo, Luna, Shaz, Atticus, Mo, and us." Daphne said.

Mo nodded in agreement.

"Velma, can you get Emma's parents to take her someplace safe?" Fred suggested.

"Sure." Velma smiled.

"We're gonna set a trap for the Phantom, and Daphne and I will be the bait." Fred replied.

"3, 2, 1." Cherry whispered with a cue.

"Oh, heh, good," Daphne smiled before trying to look like she didn't really care. "I mean, yeah, whatever."

Cherry grinned sneakily towards Daphne who gave her a look in response.

'This should be interesting.' Patch thought to himself.

"And as for the rest of us?" Cherry asked.

"You guys will set the trap, then get into hiding positions, then take him by surprise." Fred suggested.

"Hmm... All right." Cherry smirked.

"We can do that." Atticus added.

Chrissy and Berry seemed to glare from backstage at the others.

"So... Emma Gale... You related to Dorothy Gale from the Wizard of Oz?" Leo smiled bashfully.

"Um... I don't think so." Emma chuckled with a small smile back to him.

Luna smiled as she was happy that her brother was getting along with Emma.

"You're not scared of this Phantom, are you?" Leo asked.

"A little bit..." Emma said to him.

"Well... I'll protect you!" Leo decided.

Luna soon cleared her throat.

"Erm... We'll protect you." Leo then said sheepishly.

"And we'll help protect you." Bullzeye told Luna.

Emma yelped slightly.

"Hi, there." Spike smiled.

Emma looked a bit nervous and scared, seeing the Extreme Dinosaurs up close and sort of panicked.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Don't worry, they're not going to hurt you." Leo assured Emma.

"Y-You sure...?" Emma shivered.

"It's okay," Leo smiled. "They're my family."

"It's true." Spike added.

Emma grinned nervously and waved to the Extreme Dinosaurs, though it would take time for her to adjust.

"She'll warm up eventually, I assure you." Luna told the others.

"Indeed." Stegz nodded.

Diana glanced to Chrissy with a small frown as she was on her way to bed with her parents.

"You were perfect, Chrissy, just the best as always." Berry grinned.

"Thanks, Berry; just can't believe that Shaz guy didn't quit after what happened on stage." Chrissy glared.

"He'll drop out soon... I'm sure of it... If he knows what's good for him." Berry replied.

"Yeah, you're right." Chrissy smirked.

Diana looked to her niece and her imaginary friend, but didn't say anything.


	5. Chapter 5

Meanwhile, Fred and Daphne went to the center stage as the janitor was cleaning.

"Well, uh, we're gonna take a nap now." Fred said out loud.

"In our dressing room." Daphne added in the same way.

"Um, no one cares?" The janitor replied to them.

They were soon in their dressing room. The others were shown to be hiding in there.

"Hang tight, something's bound to happen." Fred said.

"To you, right? Not to us?" Shaggy asked from inside the closet.

Velma gave him a look.

"What? I'm just asking." Shaggy replied.

"It's a fair question." Scooby added.

"Try to deal with it." Cherry said.

"You sure we should get involved?" Nosedive asked.

"Nosedive, this Phantom is ruining the talent show for everyone," Shaz told him. "We should help Mystery Inc. I've seen them on TV a lot." 

"Alright." Nosedive shrugged.

Grin soon began to meditate.

"Do you have to meditate now?" Nosedive asked him.

"I'm trying to block off the negative energy from this Phantom so we can use positive energy to send him far away from here." Grin replied. 

"Uh, you do realize that the Phantom isn't a real phantom AKA ghost, right?" Patch asked Grin.

"Either way, I am hoping he doesn't come back anytime soon, he seems to be a troubled soul in his own right." Grin replied.

"I wanna pound him!" Mallory glared. 

"I'm surprised that this closet is big enough for all of us to fit in." Cherry said.

"You don't feel claustrophobic, do you?" Atticus asked.

"I... Was trying not to think about that... Darn... You..." Cherry said before she suddenly hyperventilated. "Oh, boy..." 

"Oh, boy, now you've done it." Patch sighed to his owner.

Cherry soon crawled out of the closet, standing up beside Atticus with a shiver.

"Cherry..." Atticus sighed. 

"Atticus." Cherry replied. 

"The rest of us will handle the trap." Patch said.

"Yeah! As bait!" Cherry smirked until her eyes widened. "Wait..."

"Now, it's only a matter of time." Daphne said.

Fred clapped his hands only to have the lights shut off and they went to sleep.

"Now, we just wait." Mo whispered.

Fred sat in the chair while Daphne laid down on the couch.

A lot of time passed as Fred struggled a bit to get comfortable. Cherry was looking at her phone as just about everyone else fell asleep. 

"When is this guy going to attack?" Cherry groaned.

"This is ridiculous," Shaggy complained. "We've been waiting forever. And, Velma, would you get your elbow out of my ribs?"

"I'm over here, Shaggy." Velma said as she came out from behind a sweater.

"Then whose elbow--" Shaggy was about to ask.

Behind the clothes was the Phantom, growling and laughing evilly. They all yelled out and soon ran out of the closet in fear.

"What?! What?! Is he here?!" Cherry gasped. 

"Yep, and he's in here!" Patch told them from in the closet.

"Da, da, da, da!" Cherry yelled out with a glare, coming to the closet. "Cherry Power!" 

Atticus snickered a bit from that before glaring. "All right, you Freaky Phantom, let's settle this!"

"Yeah! So come on out!" Patch barked.

The others soon came out, but the Phantom was suddenly gone.

"What in the...?" Atticus muttered.

"He must've gone through here." Fred said as he looked through the closet before finding a secret door.

"Then that's where we're going." Patch said.

"Like, I hate hidden passages," Shaggy complained. "They never lead anywhere good."

"All right, let's go for it then," Shaz said. "Olivia, you cool with coming along?"

"I think I must," Olivia replied. "The talent show is at stake, especially with all of you still in the show."

"Alright, let's go." Tanya said, referring to the secret door.

Everyone soon climbed in through the secret door. Cherry took a few deep breaths and soon went to follow them.

"Way to go, Jerry." Nosedive smiled.

"My name is Cherry!" Cherry glared.

"Oops. Sorry." Nosedive smiled bashfully.

"Where do you think this leads?" Mo asked.

"Maybe down below in some catacombs." Cherry said, based on what she knew about the Phantom of the Opera.

"We'll have to find out." Atticus said.

They soon came down into the sewers.

"Well, I was mostly right." Cherry said.

"Yeah, this is close to a catacomb." Mo said.

"Like, these sewers have so many passageways, how are we gonna find--?" Shaggy was about to ask.

"Shh!" Cherry shushed him before holding her hand to her ear.

"You hear something, Cherry?" Patch asked.

"Yeah... It sounds like... A pipe organ...." Cherry said.

"From which direction?" Atticus asked.

Cherry looked around and soon walked off, following the music the best that she could, so the others began to follow after her, and where it seemed like nothing was in their way.

"Think we'll see the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?" Atticus smirked.

"Ha." Cherry deadpanned.

Patch soon caught the scent of bats.

"BATS!" Shaggy yelped.

The bats soon flew by, startling them, though some seemed to sit on Cherry's shoulders as they seemed to like her.

"I'm sorry, did we scare you?" Cherry soothed the bats.

The bats nodded with soft screeches.

"Aww... I'm sorry... We're trying to follow the music." Cherry told them.

A bat soon flew out and screeched to her, hovering over a slide.

"Down there?" Cherry asked.

The bat nodded, telling her she was right.

"Guys, we have to go down," Cherry told the others. She saw that most of them looked confused as to why she talked to the bat. "What?"

"Why did you talk to a bat?" Wildwing asked her.

"Uh, duh! Because I can?" Cherry rolled her eyes.

Nosedive soon brought a sign that had a screw and a ball.

Cherry narrowed her eyes. "Go down the slide!" she then yelled out to them.

"Okay. Okay." Mallory said.

They soon went down the slide together after Cherry had told them to. It was a very intense ride on the way down for a while, and it even got a bit too dangerous. Fred soon saw a ladder and grabbed onto it while he was sliding and everyone else soon grabbed together once they saw what he did. Velma yelped and was about to meet her demise until Scooby grabbed her by her sweater and pulled her back.

"Whew." Mo sighed.

"Good thing this sweater's a cable-knit!" Velma replied.

Everyone heard the organ music again.

"Okay, guys, we're almost there." Cherry told the others.

"Then let's get going." Patch said.

They went to the room where the Phantom was there, playing the organ. The music soon stopped.

"I suppose it was only a matter of time until someone found me," The Phantom said as he soon stood up in front of them, surprising the others about his speaking. "Welcome to my home. I have lived here in the dank, reeking sewers all my life, forced to hide from society to conceal the hideous, twisted mass of flesh that is my face. But now, I can hide no longer. Behold, the Phantom of the Opera!" he then removed his face, revealing it was a mask, and he appeared to be an older blonde man.

Patch looked confused as the man didn't look hideous.

Cherry coughed into her fist a bit. "Um, you look fine?" She then replied.

"Fine, what?" The man asked.

"I mean, you're no Brad Pitt or anything, but you're okay." Daphne said.

"But look. Gaze upon my foul, deformed visage," The man replied, glancing at his reflection before crying. "I'm hideous. Hideous!"

"That's a fun-house mirror." Mo pointed out.

"It is? But this is the only mirror I've ever looked in. I mean, I don't have any others, and when I go out I always wear the mask," The man replied until Daphne took out her compact mirror for him to borrow. "Hey, I look good. Well, this is embarrassing. Wow, uh, ehh! I wish I had the last 40 years back. Uh, so it's super awkward right now. I, uh... Anyway, yeah."

"Erm... Mr. Phantom?" Atticus spoke up.

"Steve," The man smiled as he shook hands with the boy. "Steve Trilby. Wow, that's quite a grip you got there."

"Uh, yeah, so... Steve... Why have you been sabotaging the talent show?" Atticus then asked.

"The what now?" Steve asked.

"The talent show." Shaz said.

"You wrecked instruments, and set fire to a dummy, and--" Olivia added.

"Not me," Steve replied. "I haven't been up at all lately, except to get food."

"Is that why you were in our dressing room?" Daphne asked.

"That's the secret door to the vending machines," Steve replied. "I like those burritos. The bean and cheese ones?"-

"Those are so good." Patch smiled.

"But, back in the 70's--" Atticus spoke up.

"Oh, yeah. I mean, I did some stuff back then. Stuff I'm not proud of. It was when they turned the Opera House into a disco. I had loved the opera so much. I can hear everything from down here, but that disco music made me crazy, and those ridiculous outfits the people wore," Steve replied before looking to some of the group as they wore some outdated clothes. "You know, the little neck scarf thingies, and the mini-skirts and--Oh! But on you guys they work. Anyway, that was when I was young and impetuous. I haven't bothered anyone for almost 40 years now," he then sat down on his couch. "Could I, um, see that mirror again?"

Daphne then took out her mirror for him to look at his reflection.

"Look at me," Steve smiled. "I'm an Adonis!"

"Okay, this guy can't be the Phantom we're looking for." Patch said.

"I am so disappointed." Cherry sulked.

"Aw, it's okay, Cherry, at least we know he's harmless." Atticus supported.

"But then who's the Phantom that's been trying to get Chrissy to win?" Mo asked.

Everyone heard a woman screaming which made them ran off to see what was going on. Horror music seemed to play as they ran off.

"Well, I don't like the sound of that..." Cherry said.

"Neither do I." Mo said.

Colette was seen screaming on stage as they came over to see her. The others soon came out of the sewers and came to see her, and it looked as though a man was hung by his neck at the lofts.

"OH, MY GOSH!!!" Cherry gasped in horror.

Fred soon turned on the switch to show Pauldini was hanging by his back.

"Phew..." Cherry then sighed. 

"Hello? I'm kind of stuck up here!" The magician called out to them down below.

"One of us is going to have to go up there and get him down." Patch said.

"I'll get him." Colette offered since it was her job.

"Her name's Colette... I miss Colette..." Patch sighed as the woman shared a name with his girlfriend back home.

Cherry reached out and patted him on the shoulder to comfort him.

"I think I found our Phantom." Mo said as she saw the Phantom using a blow torch.

Everyone soon saw that as the curtains caught on fire.

"I'm going after him," Fred told the others. "Watch the exits!"

"You got it." Atticus said.

"Careful, Fred." Cherry added.

Fred soon ran to the steps as he got to work. The Phantom saw him and began to throw a sandbag at him.

"Incoming!" Mo called out.

Fred soon grabbed it before it could hit him.

"Way to go!" Atticus smiled.

The Phantom laughed and ran away from the blonde teen.

Shaggy tried to use the fire extinguisher, but it didn't seem to work. "Come on! Work!" he then cried out.

"Why isn't it working?!" Nosedive added.

"I think you have to pull on it first." Shaz suggested.

"Oh, right. Like, thanks, Shaz ." Shaggy replied. 

When that happened, the fire extinguisher foam seemed to go everywhere by accident.

"Whoa." Leo said.

Shaggy almost lost his balance, but Scooby grabbed his shirt and pulled him up. "Like, double thanks." he then said.

"I got it." Leo said, taking the fire extinguisher, but struggled at first.

Atticus soon helped him out, the two looked to each other before he gave a friendly smile. Leo smiled back in the same way. The Phantom kept running from Fred until he soon jumped off the end of the line.

"Jump, Freddy, jump!" Cherry called out. 

Fred soon jumped, though he dangled from the loft.

"Not good." Olivia gulped.

"Aaaugh!" Daphne panicked as she grabbed onto Cherry.

"I can't breathe!" Cherry muffled.

The Phantom laughed as he towered over Fred. Fred soon took off his ascot and slid out of the way as the Phantom tried to stomp on him, but he soon got his ankle tied up by the ascot. The Phantom fell down and soon got back up.

"Go get him, Fred!" Mo called out.

Cherry muffled, still stuck in Daphne's grip. The Phantom laughed and pulled his blowtorch, and he began to try and attack Fred with it. Everyone looked worried for Fred, but no one looked more worried than Daphne. Fred soon jumped and ducked from the Phantom before kicking him away from him bravely. The Phantom then got back up, grabbing his arms and holding onto the blowtorch, lighting it up. Steve swung in on a rope, kicking the Phantom onto another loft, but soon, the support beams broke, and both of them fell onto the stage floor.

"Are you both alright?" Mo asked Steve and the Phantom.

Cherry soon got out of Daphne's hold, catching her breath.

"I'll be all right, I think." Steve said to Mo softly.

"That's a relief." Mo smiled.

Atticus took the Phantom's mask off to show an old, familiar face. "Mel Richmond?!"

"Of course! I knew it all along!" Nosedive replied.

"Oh, you did not!" Mallory glared.

"Okay, maybe just a little bit." Nosedive replied then.

"Uh-oh... I think I'm dying." Steve frowned to the red substance.

"No, you're not," Mo told him. "It's just red paint."

"Do you understand how mirrors work at all?" Daphne asked.

"Cut me a break, I grew up in a sewer." Steve defended.

A security guard ran over and put handcuffs on Mel.

"So you were going to burn down this place down for the insurance money." Mo said to Mel.

"Yes, and I would have gotten away with it too if it hadn't been for you meddling kids," Mel glared. "And your nosy animal friends."

"Animals?!" The security guard glared.

"Oh, just try and throw us out, tough guy!" Nosedive challenged to the security guard. 

"Wait, I still don't understand why you did all that other stuff when you could have just burned down this place for the insurance." Olivia said to Mel.

"I didn't, but whoever did gave me the idea to put on this costume," Mel stated. "Stupidest idea I ever had."

"No offense, but... Yeah... It is kinda dumb." Cherry replied. 

"So then that means the real culprit is still around." Atticus said.

The lights went out and they could hear The Phantom's laughter.

"Christine must win!" The Phantom's voice laughed.

"She is never going to win!" Olivia shouted.

"Yes, she shall, otherwise, I will rain death, and destruction down upon this place!" The Phantom continued. "So swears the Phantom!"

"No, no, no!" Dewey cried out. "Now will you take this seriously? I want as many officers as you can spare here for the show tonight."

"That sounds like a good plan." Nosedive said.

"I was thinking the same," The female cop replied. "We're on it."

"So you'll do it?" Dewey smiled hopefully. "You'll put all your men on this? And can you keep that dog out of here too?"

"Hello! I still need a ladder!" Pauldini cried out as he was still dangling. "Hello! The Great Pauldini is not pleased!"

"Atticus, could you please?" Cherry asked.

"I got him." Bullzeye said as he flew up to help the magician. 

"And he starts panicking," Cherry sighed, referring to the magician. Of course, Pauldini overreacted and flipped out which made Cherry roll her eyes with a groan. "Black--Erm... Diana? You don't happen to know who the real phantom is?" she then asked.

"Yes, but I was told to never speak of it," Diana replied. "You think I'm gonna follow that rule though?" 

"In this situation, hopefully not." Cherry said.

"So, who's the Phantom?" Atticus asked.

"When I tell you, think about it a little," Diana said. "It's Lance." 

"Of course." Cherry said.

"He threatened me not to tell." Diana said.

"It's cool," Cherry replied. "No one blames you." 

"Yeah." Mo nodded.

"Thank you," Diana said. "Barb and Lance have been pestering me to teach Chrissy how to sing like I can, but I never went that far of course."

"The Music Meister certainly liked your voice." Cherry smirked which earned her a glare. 

"I thought I said I never wanted to be reminded of that man?" Diana glared.

"Whoops." Cherry smirked.

Diana soon let out a Sonic Scream at the perky goth.

"Wah! Okay! Okay!" Cherry yelped, covering her ears. "I deserved that!"

"Yes, you did." Atticus smirked.

Cherry narrowed her eyes at him from that.

"Hey, you know what?" Leo said to Atticus. "You're alright."

"You're cool too." Atticus smiled to him.

"They sure got along fast." Luna smiled.

"Probably needed to realize it," Cherry said. "Atticus has big enough of a head to go around."

"Will you STOP THAT?!" Atticus cried out from being called a big head.

"No." Cherry smirked.

"You two are like brother and sister." Luna smiled.

"We get that a lot." Cherry and Atticus replied.

"I have to admire that," Luna said. "My best friend IS my big brother. I don't know what I'd do without him."

"Same with me without my sister." Leo smiled.

"Awww... So mushy..." Cherry commented.

Leo and Luna looked to her.

"Cherry's usually not one for emotions, but I respect your bond," Atticus smiled. "It's good to see siblings getting along like you two do. Your parents must be so proud of you for that."

"We sure they are..." Luna frowned. "In Heaven."

"In Heaven? Oh..." Cherry replied before her eyes widened as she realized what that meant. "Ohhh!!!"

"Sorry for your loss." Atticus said.

"It's okay," Leo replied. "We just know they wouldn't want us to be sad... It's sometimes hard though to hold back the tears."

"Yeah, and luckily, we now have a family." Luna said, referring to the Extreme Dinosaurs.

Atticus smiled softly to that as Leo and Luna looked very happy with the Extreme Dinosaurs and that was all that mattered in a family, it was love, not just the blood they all shared.


	6. Chapter 6

Sometime later, it was almost time for Talent Star to start.

"Atticus... I'm not sure if I wanna sing anymore..." Mo said to her boyfriend.

"Don't worry; nothing is going to happen you or anyone else because the next fake Phantom is going to be captured while Chrissy is performing." Atticus assured his girlfriend.

"Do you really think so?" Mo sniffled.

"I know so." Atticus smiled.

Mo smiled back to him, wiping one of her eyes. "Could I hug you?"

"Do you have to ask?" Atticus chuckled with a smile.

The two soon shared a hug with each other, and where Atticus was right they would capture another fake Phantom.

"Just trust in me~" Atticus smirked, trying to sound like Kaa.

Mo smirked back, though it was mostly bashful.

"I think I'm gonna go behind the scenes with Velma, Tanya, and this Luna kid." Cherry said to them.

"Sounds good." Atticus said.

"You two try not to suck each other's faces off." Cherry smirked.

"Okay, Cherry." Mo rolled her eyes playfully.

Cherry, Tanya, and Luna soon went with Velma to the backstage.

"Mr. Pimiento?" Cherry called.

"Ah, you're that girl who knows Brown and Fudo," Brick smiled innocently. "They must be pretty happy."

"Uh, yeah, they sure are." Cherry said.

"After all, there's only a few acts left." Brick smiled.

"And even fewer," Velma said. "The Great Pauldini just left."

"Anyway, the publicity the Phantom has generated has been fantastic," Brick then said. "We're expecting our highest ratings ever."

"You don't sound concerned about the remaining contestants." Tanya said.

"Come on, let me show you the projections." Brick said to them.

Cherry raised an eyebrow.

"Or not..." Brick said to her.

"Wise decision." Cherry smirked.

Brick soon walked off from her with a bit of a nervous chuckle.

"He seems to be hiding something in the sound room." Tanya told the others with her.

"Shall we investigate?" Luna asked.

"Like you have to ask." Cherry smirked.

They soon came inside the sound room to do a little investigating.

"Hmm... This microphone is still on..." Luna said as she tapped the microphone.

"I think we already know the answer to why the microphone is still on," Cherry smirked. "And looks like Atticus was right."

"Isn't he always?" Velma smirked back.

Cherry rolled her eyes playfully from that notion.

"Hmm... So this would all be heard on the stage," Luna smirked. "Interesting."

"But we have to have proof." Tanya said.

Cherry nodded as she took a look around in thought. "Hmm... Proof..."

"What about security footage?" Luna asked.

Cherry looked around and checked out the cameras.

"We gotta talk to KT about this, let's head down to the control room." Velma suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea." Luna said.

They soon went to get going straight that way for more information. KT looked over as they came in and told him what they needed.

"Do you keep the footage all the cameras in here shoot?" Velma asked.

"Well, of course," KT replied. "There's a whole digital database on the server."

"Could we look through it?" Velma asked.

"Sure, but there's like 2,000 hours of footage in there." KT replied.

"Oh, man," Velma frowned to that. "Now there's no way I'm gonna have time to go see The Soap Diamond."

"The Soap Diamond?" Luna asked out of interest.

"You hear of it?" Velma smiled. "I read all about it on the way down here."

"Yeah, but if all the police are here, then who's guarding The Soap Diamond?" Luna asked.

"Simple, that would be--" Cherry said at first before her eyes widened. "Ooh... Uh... This could be a problem."

"Wait, isn't Dewey obsessed with cleanliness?" Tanya asked.

"Hmm... He is, isn't he?" Cherry replied.

"Especially against certain animals." Luna rolled her eyes in memory.

"And where the Soap Diamond is the most clean diamond of all." Tanya said.

Cherry face-palmed. "I should've known that was gonna tie-into the story somehow."

Luna soon hurried and after a few seconds she found the footage they were looking for, thanks to her intelligence.

"Good luck finding it, kid," Cherry smirked smugly. "I'm pretty smart for my age, so--"

"Found it." Luna said.

"Ah, dang." Cherry groaned.

"Wow, that was fast." Tanya smiled.

"No doubt that Dewey guy wants that diamond though." Luna said as she looked at her screen with pride.

"Well, of course." Cherry said.

A limo pulled up and a man opened the door, and out came Chrissy down the red carpet. Barb and Lance joined her as they were dressed up and linked arms, along with Berry who tossed out rose petals on the carpet with her creator's footsteps, following after Chrissy. The audience began to talk about how the Phantom had spiced up Talent Star.

"Talent Star was starting to get kinda old, but this Phantom thing has really spiced it up." A woman said to her boyfriend.

"If the Phantom shows up, we might really see someone get hurt." An old man said to his wife with a smirk. 

"Oh! I hope, I hope, I hope!" The old woman smiled and clapped out of excitement.

Thor was shown to be home with Zoe and Phoebe, flicking through the TV remote to find something to watch.

"Can't we watch Sky Dancers?" Phoebe pouted.

"I am in charge, so no." Thor smirked to his sister.

"Oh, dang it." Phoebe frowned.

Zoe gave her boyfriend a look.

Thor looked back to her bashfully before sighing. "Fine, we'll switch back and forth."

"Hooray!" Phoebe beamed.

"Little sisters..." Thor rolled his eyes before turning on Talent Star which made him smile. "This seems interesting."

"Can we watch it?" Phoebe asked.

"Well... Fine..." Thor said before smirking. "But you gotta be quiet."

"Fine." Phoebe groaned.

Thor patted his sister on the head before tickling her. Phoebe laughed from that, unable to resist being tickled.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Talent Star Finals, I'm your host, the man: Brick Pimiento!" Brick smiled as he came on stage as the crowd applauded him. "And now I'm sure you've heard we've had some trouble."

"Some trouble?" Zoe frowned.

There were then images of the Phantom behind the TV show host.

"Mm-hmm, terrible business. Terrible. Because of this so-called Phantom, we're down to just a few acts," Brick continued before showing the contestants on the screen behind him. "Emma... Blake and Jones... Brown and Fudo... And Chrissy! Fantastic. By the end of the show tonight, one will be crowned this year's Talent Star. The others receive a year's supply of Fudge-a-Roni: Fudge-a Roni, the great taste of fudge with the convenience of roni."

A woman presented the product on stage before she soon walked off.

"Hmm..." Thor paused in thought while Phoebe and Zoe looked disgusted with the product.

"As you know, on Talent Star, you decide the winner. You can vote by text or online," Brick informed before the show would begin. "Your votes will be tallied in real time, and displayed on this scoreboard. And now, going out live all over the world, I give you Chrissy!"

"This should be interesting." Phoebe said.

Chrissy came on stage, singing her song 'Homewrecker'. Phoebe, Thor, and Zoe all looked a bit disturbed from the song. Thor soon muted the rest of the song. Zoe then leaned against him, letting him open his arm out and hold her in his arm to cuddle.

Meanwhile, Emma was in her dressing room, brushing her hair before she would have her turn. As her back was turned, someone then tried to grab her violin. 

"Hold it!" Leo's voice called out before he soon grabbed a hold of the person who was the Phantom.

Emma looked over, a bit scared, but looked relieved to see someone had come to help her. 

"You okay?" Leo asked.

"Mm-hmm." Emma smiled and nodded.

"Looks like we caught another Phantom." Luna smirked before unmasking the Phantom to show Lance.

"So, it was you all along," Fred glared to Lance. "I mean, when it wasn't Mel."

"Ugh. I would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for you meddling kids." Lance glared back. 

"How many times have you heard that?" Leo smirked to Fred and Daphne.

"Apparently not enough." Daphne replied.

"Now we just have to hand Lance over to the police." Mo said.

"Thanks," A cop said as he soon walked over with some others. "We'll take it from here."

"Good enough for me." Mo smiled to the cops, handing Lance over to them.

"Hope you like prison food." Patch smirked at Lance.

"Little brat." Lance spat out to Patch.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Patch rolled his eyes.

"Blake and Jones, you're on in 30 seconds!" Dewey warned Fred and Daphne.

"Good luck you two." Mo smiled.

"Thanks, Mo, see ya around." Daphne smiled back as she soon ran off with Fred.

"There's that lemony smell..." Mo said before glaring at Dewey. "Why do you smell like lemons?!"

"It's the hand sanitzer." Dewey replied before walking away.

"Wait, did you say lemon smell?" Patch asked Mo.

"Yeah..." Mo replied. "Didn't Shaggy and Scooby say that about the Phantom?"

"That means Dewey is the Phantom!" Patch told her.

"Out of like a billion tonight?!" Mo complained. "So many Phantoms!"

"Quick, we have to tell the others." Patch said.

"Come on then, let's go!" Mo nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile...

Chrissy smiled to the audience and went backstage. "One side, doofus!" she then pushed Brick out of the way. "I killed it back there."

"Too bad you can't be as amazing as Chrissy." Berry told the TV show host.

"I know, I know." Chrissy smirked.

"Heh, yeah, fantastic," Brick replied. "Uh, by the way, they just arrested your dad, ciao."

Chrissy then threw down her microphone in a fit.

"It's his own fault." Berry said.

"You're right." Chrissy replied.

"Berry, you shouldn't think like that about your own family," Diana told the imaginary friend. "I think you're a bad influence on Chrissy."

"Oh, please, I'm making her into a star." Berry smirked.

"Yeah, you're just jealous that I'm a somebody, Aunt Diana, and you'll just be a nobody." Chrissy added smugly.

Diana narrowed her eyes, not liking that one bit.

"Sweetheart, Daddy's in trouble." Barb said to her daughter.

"I told that pinhead to watch his step. Idiots!" Chrissy huffed.

Berry nodded in agreement. Diana looked a bit annoyed with how spoiled her niece was, especially with her parents and imaginary friend enabling her.

"Get me a soda. Now." Chrissy told her aunt.

"No." Diana glared.

"What?!" Chrissy asked.

"N-O. I said no." Diana said.

"You can't talk to me like that!" Chrissy complained before smirking. "Don't hit me again!"

"I never hit you!" Diana glared. "I've had enough of you, Chrissy!"

"You did so hit me, and you said you hated me!" Chrissy said which was obviously lying to make herself look good.

"Are you sure about that?" Olivia smirked at Chrissy as she had her cell phone out and where it had recorded everything.

"What are YOU doing?" Chrissy glared.

"You're a spoiled diva," Olivia glared back. "You should be punished along with your father."

"You wouldn't dare." Chrissy glared back.

"You can't blackmail my daughter like that!" Barb told Olivia. "I should sue you!"

"That is enough!" Diana complained. "Barbara, you and Lance are terrible parents. You spoil your daughter and she's selfish and bitter just like you two, especially after you asked me to give her singing lessons and babysit her, and that imaginary friend of hers is even worse!"

"She's right." Olivia nodded.

"You stay out of this!" Barb glared, soon hitting Olivia.

Olivia let out a yelp, and even though Shaz was with the other Mighty Ducks, he soon glared as he felt something wrong.

"Something wrong, Shaz?" Nosedive asked.

"I'm not sure... I... I sense a disturbance backstage..." Shaz said as he went to investigate.

"Follow your instincts, young one." Grin advised.

Shaz nodded and soon went off backstage.

Olivia rubbed her cheek, glaring to Barb.

"That was your own fault." Berry smirked to Olivia along with Chrissy.

"I can't believe you sometimes!" Diana ranted to Barb. "You are a terrible mother!"

Shaz soon came rushing in, and where he saw Olivia rubbing her cheek.

"Oh, great, it's that freaky kid with the mutant ducks," Barb glared. "You get out of my precious Chrissy's breathing space!"

"Don't you remember who's performing next?" Diana glared back as she brought out a list of who was up next after who.

"What's it matter who's next?" Barb snapped. "He's bothering my daughter!"

"You okay, Livi?" Shaz asked. "You hurt yourself?"

"Mrs. Damon hit me." Olivia pouted.

Shaz looked enraged after hearing who hit his girlfriend.

"So what if I did?" Barb glared. "What're you gonna do about it?"

"I'll take you to court!" Shaz glared back. "Someone needs to discipline your daughter anyway!"

"He's not wrong." Diana said.

Barb looked like she was going to hit Shaz next, but Diana soon grabbed her arm with a glare.

"Don't touch this child!" Diana glared to Barb. "Someone needs to put you, Chrissy, Berry, and Lance in your places!"

"Let me go!" Barb glared back.

"You and Lance should both be put away and someone needs to discipline this child since she's not acting like a girl should act." Diana told Barb firmly. 

"Oh, and what are you going to do, call the cops?" Barb smirked.

Shaz opened his mouth at first as the police were escorting Lance away.

"You can't tell me what to do, little boy!" Barb glared, shoving Shaz against Olivia. "You're a freak of nature anyway!" 

'And that should do it.' Diana thought to herself.

The police soon looked over to her.

"No! You can't take my mommy away!" Chrissy whined. "Where will I live?!"

"I think I need to take custody of you, Christine..." Diana said firmly. 

"Oh, great..." Chrissy groaned.

"This is gonna cost us." Berry mumbled.

"Shaz? You're up!" Brick called out to the boy.

Shaz looked over and soon straightened himself out.

"Hey... Good luck." Olivia smiled to him before kissing his cheek. 

"Thanks." Shaz smiled before going out to perform.

Olivia smiled back as she went to sit back down.

"Some things are going to change around here, do you understand me?" Diana narrowed her eyes, looking a bit firm and scary to Chrissy to show her that her life was indeed going to change with both of her parents in jail now.


	7. Chapter 7

Everyone began to wait and watch to see what Shaz's act was. Shaz cracked his neck a bit before coming up to a pile of cinder blocks and soon carried one at first. The audience watched with mild suspense. Shaz soon began to stack up the pile of cinder blocks without making himself look weak or tired before chucking them into the air, doing a somersault and soon jumped back up onto his feet and began to juggle them, astounding the audience a bit. 

"It's like he's that new hero." One of the audience members said.

"Do you suppose he could be like Superman?" A woman wondered to herself. 

Shaz now saw the problem with his act; it was exposing one of his super-powers. The audience looked at him strangely. Shaz looked around as he looked bashful now.

"What's he doing?" Mallory asked.

"Maybe he caught stage fright." Nosedive guessed. 

"Or he just remembered that he also has a superhero Identity to protect." Tanya whispered to the other Mighty Ducks.

"We have to help him," Wildwing said. "...But how? What would Canard do?"

Olivia began to think of a way to help before facing Grin. Shaz soon put the cinder blocks down and began to back away on the stage as the audience murmured about him, making him feel nervous about showing off his strength like that, especially when Kara told him to be careful.

'I should have listened to Kara.' Shaz thought to himself.

Olivia soon came to put wires on the cinder blocks in secret while the audience looked overwhelmed to make it look like Shaz was pretending to juggle and lift the cinder blocks with his own strength so he wouldn't look like a superhero freak like young Clark or Kara when not Superman and Supergirl.

"And there we go." Olivia whispered.

A spotlight soon shined down on Shaz.

"Yaugh!" Shaz yelped, ducking down.

"Hey! There's wires holding up those blocks!" A man called out. "He's not really juggling!"

"Huh?" Shaz asked until he saw Olivia with a knowing look and had a feeling this was her doing and which caused him to go along with it.

Olivia winked to him before climbing down from a ladder backstage.

Shaz winked back before gasping, putting his hands to his cheeks. "Oh, no! You've all found out my secret!"

The crowd soon started to boo at him for faking his act. Shaz grinned nervously and shuffled off to backstage.

"Way to go, kid, I hope you enjoy losing." Brick grumbled.

'It's better than I lost rather than exposing my secret.' Shaz thought to himself. Shaz soon went backstage and took down the cinder blocks with the wires.

"I feel bad he's getting booed off like that." Nosedive said.

"Yeah, but it's better than exposing his powers." Wildwing told him.

"Yeah or else he'd have the news asking him so many questions." Mallory said.

"Hmm... Well, okay." Nosedive shrugged.

Up next came the Stardust siblings as they set up their keyboard and guitar. Leo looked over to Emma who smiled and waved to him as she waited with her parents with her violin. Leo smiled and waved back.

"Think you're ready?" Luna asked.

"Yeah... I think so." Leo smiled.

"Great, then let's play our hearts out." Luna smiled back.

Leo smiled and nodded to her. The spotlight soon shined down on the Stardust siblings as they began to sing their Money song together like they did in dress rehearsal. And where everyone felt same way as the others did in dress rehearsal.

"Those two are such wonderful singers..." Meg said softly. "It seems like they might win."

Emma heard that and had the same thought. The siblings soon finished, bowing and curtsying as the crowd seemed to go wild for them.

"Good night, Chicago!" Leo laughed into the microphone, sounding like a rock star.

Luna simply rolled her eyes playfully. Leo laughed as he soon came backstage with his sister.

"You guys were great out there." Emma smiled to them.

"Oh, um, thanks, Emma." Leo smiled back, blushing.

"You'll do just as great." Luna smiled at Emma.

"Oh, you're both so sweet." Emma smiled back as she hugged the Stardust siblings.

Mike and Meg smiled as it seemed like their daughter had made a couple of new friends. Fred and Daphne soon went and took their turn on stage.

"Hey, like, where's Dewey?" Shaggy then asked.

"I don't know," Emma replied. "He's supposed to be here?"

"Where the heck is Dewey?" Brick asked.

"Like, nobody knows!" Shaggy replied.

"Does he still have his headset on?" Luna asked.

"Yes, so wherever he is," Brick replied. "I can hear him. He's breathing hard. Sounds like he's running and muttering. Something about soap, but that's what he's always talking about so..."

"Can I borrow this? Thanks!" Shaggy said as he took Brick's headset before running off with Scooby.

"Hey, you!" Brick called out, pointing to his personal assistant. "Yes. Get me another earpiece, and a latte. Yeah, yeah, fantastic."

"What was that about?" Leo asked.

"I have no idea..." Luna mumbled.

"Should we follow?" Leo asked about Shaggy and Scooby.

"Hmm... Maybe." Luna replied.

They soon followed after Scooby and Shaggy.

"Come on, Scoob, we gotta get to Dewey's office!" Shaggy told Scooby as they ran off together.

They went to Dewey's office and there was a book about the soap diamond. The Stardust siblings then quickly followed behind.

"Guys, what's going on?" Leo asked.

"We think that Dewey might be up to something," Shaggy replied. "Hey, you're those kids with the dinosaur gang."

"Yep." Leo and Luna smiled.

"Isn't it scary living with dinosaurs?" Shaggy shivered. "I don't know what I'd do if I had to meet dinosaurs in person."

"Ah, they won't hurt you," Luna smiled. "They're our family!"

"Yeah, they're good dinosaurs." Leo nodded.

"Well, all right, if you guys say so." Shaggy said nervously.

"The Soap Diamond... No doubt Dewey wants this with his unhealthy OCD." Luna said. 

"We have to go tell the others." Leo said.

"The Soap Diamond," Shaggy replied. "It's right around the corner."

"And it's unguarded!" The Stardust siblings yelped.

They ran out of the office to warn the others as they ran around the corner.

Velma and the others were still in the control room, finding them in there instantly.

"What the heck are you guys doing in here?" KT asked them.

"Guys, you'll never believe what we found, but it's footage of--" Cherry was about to tell them as she held up a disc.

"Dewey! Phantom! Soap Diamond!" Leo told them.

"Wait, what?" Cherry asked.

"Come on, we gotta go!" Shaggy told her, grabbing her arm and running with her.

"Shaaagggyyyy!" Cherry cried out.

They soon started to explain how Dewey was the Phantom.

"You're sure?" Cherry asked.

Shaggy and Scooby nodded to her. 

"He told the police to assign everyone they have here," Velma informed. "He must have done that so no one would be watching the mineralogical society. This way."

The group soon took off as they went to stop Dewey.

"Is he saying anything?" Fred asked Shaggy.

"Oh, I can hear traffic. He's outside," Shaggy said as he listened to the earpiece. "Like, he just said 'Got it'. We might be too late."

Dewey was soon seen as the Phantom outside the building that held the Soap Diamond.

"Dewey!" Fred called out as they came out in the middle of the road.

"Uh... Uh... I am the Phantom!" Dewey replied, trying to disguise his voice. "I know nothing of this Dewey!"

"Oh, come off it!" Cherry rolled her eyes. "We know it's you, you old fool!" 

"You're still wearing your headset!" Patch added.

"Huh? Oh, darn!" Dewey said as he took off his headset.

"Give up, Dewey!" Cherry told him.

Dewey soon began to run.

"They always run..." Cherry rolled her eyes.

Dewey soon yelped, getting wrapped up in his cape and soon began to trip down the steps in misfortune. 

"Poor Dewey." Patch sighed.

"I'd feel sorry for him, but other people's pain is hilarious." Cherry laughed a bit.

The others gave her a look from that.

"Oh, come on!" Cherry told them. "He deserves it!" 

"Yeah, she's got a point." Patch nodded.

"Hahahaheh... I'm hilarious." Cherry smirked to herself.

Dewey soon seemed to lose the Soap Diamond as the bag it was in flew off from his hand.

"The Soap Diamond!" Velma cried out.

Scooby soon dashed off, catching the bag first and soon, the Soap Diamond fell into it, saving it just in time.

"Nice save." Patch smiled.

"Thanks!" Scooby smiled back.

"NO!" Dewey cried out and soon hopped into his car, coming down from the stairs.

"Way to go, Scooby-Doo!" Shaggy smiled and pet his best friend happily. 

Headlights soon came on right behind them.

"Let me guess; he's right behind us in a car, right?" Cherry guessed.

"Looks like it." Patch said, shaking chills down his spine.

"I WANT THAT DIAMOND!" Dewey yelled out as he began to drive towards them.

"Run!" Cherry yelped.

They soon began to run as Dewey chased them in his car to run them over with so that he could get back the Soap Diamond. Scooby soon jumped as it seemed like he got hit and the Soap Diamond bag soon flew up in the air out of his hold. Dewey soon caught the bag with a grin and began to ride off away from them once he got what he wanted.

"After him!" Patch barked.

"To the Mystery Machine!" Fred proclaimed.

They soon rushed into the Mystery Machine.

"Hold on, Scooby!" Patch called out.

"Like he has a choice." Cherry remarked.

Scooby smiled once he saw the Mystery Machine and soon grabbed the Soap Diamond bag and went to go to the Mystery Machine and off of Dewey's car.

"Nice job, Scoob." Patch smiled.

"Thanks!" Scooby smiled back.

Dewey watched that in misfortune before seeing that he drove into a truck with oil drums filled with pink slime which soon tilted and splattered onto him. 

"Ooh." Scooby and Patch winced from that at first.

"He's gonna be covered with filth." Patch winced.

Scooby nodded to that.

"That's karma for ya." Cherry smirked.

Dewey grunted and whimpered, seeing the pink slime all around him before growling and going back to driving after the others.

"He's after us!" Patch told the others.

Dewey soon laughed wickedly, coming up right behind them. Patch shuddered a bit as that reminded him a lot of when Cruella drove after the truck with him and his siblings and parents when they were on their way back home to London as Black Labradors. Fred soon narrowed his eyes and kept on driving, though a bit faster this time.

"Well, this certainly is something." Cherry said.

Fred soon swerved into an alley, hitting some trashcans which sent them flying against Dewey.

"Aw, that sucks." Cherry smirked.

The trash soon crashed on him, much to his dismay. "Eww! Icky!" But that didn't stop them as he continued to chase them down.

"Wow, he's not stopping." Patch said.

"He is INSANE!" Cherry cried out.

Dewey soon disappeared from behind them and was soon in front of them and began to hit them, making the Mystery Machine spin around on the road. Cherry soon held her stomach before cupping her mouth as her face turned bright green.

"Like, I can't watch!" Shaggy panicked.

Scooby then covered Shaggy's eyes.

"Like, thanks, Scoob." Shaggy then said.

"He's never going to stop chasing us!" Patch cried out.

"We're gonna be stuck here forever!" Cherry added.

"There's no way we can lose him," Fred frowned. "He's just too fast."

"Look out!" Daphne shrieked, seeing the roads being blocked off right now.

"Oh, come on!" Patch complained about the roads being blocked off.

"I'm such a bad luck charm..." Cherry groaned.

"Aw, Cherry, you're not bad luck." Atticus comforted.

"Aren't you and Mo suppose to go on after Emma?" Cherry reminded.

"Yeah..." Atticus replied. "But... That girl..."

"You feel bad that if you win, she won't be able to save her family farm?" Cherry guessed.

Atticus nodded out of guilt.

"So you think that if you and Mo miss your chance at performing, it'll help her chances at winning?" Patch asked. "Do you really think Emma would want to win that way?" 

"Well, if you think I should go back... I can..." Atticus replied before suddenly disappearing.

"Oh, my God, he vaporized in thin-air." Cherry remarked.

"Or he used his magic to teleport back to the talent show." Patch said.

"Vaporize." Cherry smirked.

"Cherry, Atticus is your friend!" Patch scolded.

"He's also my brother." Cherry replied.

"Fair point." Patch said.

The other cars soon stopped as the bridge road was lifting up, but Fred soon drove the van anyway as a way to lure off Dewey. Dewey soon continued to chase after them as Fred drove the van up the rising road.

"Fred, I hope you know what you're doing!" Patch cried out.

"Please tell us that you know what you're doing!" Cherry begged.

Fred didn't say anything as he kept on driving. Dewey glared, hitting against the van with his own car which startled the others.

"I'm not ready to die, I'm not ready to die, I'm not ready to die." Cherry began to tremble as the van was soon over the bridged road, above the water below.

Patch soon got an idea of how to keep the Soap Diamond from Dewey. The van began to tilt back and forth.

"Cherry, I have an idea." Patch said.

"I hope it's safety and life." Cherry replied.

"Just follow my lead." Patch told her.

"Alright." Cherry said.

The van continued to tilt which made Cherry shake a bit and turn deathly pale.

"Hold it right there." Dewey said as he opened back of the Mystery Machine.

"That's probably a good idea." Cherry grinned nervously.

"Agreed." Patch nodded.

"So what's yours?!" Cherry asked.

"Follow me." Patch told her.

Dewey soon took out his feather duster which doubled as a sword.

"That is the cleanest sword I've ever seen." Daphne remarked.

"Yeah, it's doesn't have one speck of dust on it." Cherry added.

"Thank you..." Dewey smirked as he polished the sword, but saw that they were soon gone.

Patch led them away out of the van, quietly and carefully, reminding himself to be careful. They soon carefully and quietly climbed up the lifted up road bridge out of the Mystery Machine.

Cherry wobbled a bit, looking down which made her look dizzy like she could fall into the water, but Patch quickly caught her and pulled her back to keep her from falling. "Whew..." She then sighed. "Thanks."

"You're Atticus's best friend, I never want anything to happen to you," Patch said. "Even if you're not always very nice."

Cherry looked a little touched from that.

"There you are!" Dewey glared.

"Yaugh!" Cherry flinched slightly.

"The bag!" Dewey demanded. "Hand it over!"

"Why do you want this diamond so badly anyway?" Fred glared.

"I need it to complete my collection of cleanliness-themed treasures," Dewey informed. "I've already stolen the Ammonia Lisa and the Sponge of Turin."

"So that was you!" Velma gasped to the insane man. 

"Uh-huh, but you need three things to make a collection!" Dewey glared. "THREE things, not two!"

"I guess that's true." Cherry replied.

"Too true." Patch nodded.

"Now give me the bag!" Dewey demanded.

Fred soon held out the bag and dropped it out of his hand.

'And he dives down for it.' Patch thought to himself.

"NO!" Dewey yelped, going to do just that.

"Dewey!" Daphne cried out, concerned for his own safety, even if he just tried to kill them.

"Don't worry, he's gonna have a soft landing." Cherry smirked as she saw a garbage barge coming.

"Ooh..." The others replied, though grimaced from the garbage.

"I think that's a better punishment than jail." Cherry smirked.

Dewey happily caught the Soap Diamond in his hands, but then yelled out in a panic once he saw he was about to land in garbage. Soon, he eventually did land in the garbage. Dewey soon began to have a nervous breakdown from being trapped in the garbage before he began to look for the Soap Diamond's bag. The others just watched him as he soon laughed happily as he brought out the bag, but when he opened it...

"I've got it!" Dewey laughed as he dug through the trash before finding something as he opened the bag only to find a dog biscuit and not the diamond. Yuck! A slobbery dog bone. Ugh."

"Looking for this?" Cherry smirked as Patch showed that he had the Soap Diamond.

"Ooh, too bad." Fred also smirked.

Scooby chuckled from that. The police soon came over to arrest Dewey once and for all.

"He's going to be spending the rest of his life in prison." Patch smirked.

"Unclean prison!" Cherry soon laughed with him.

"And I would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for you meddling kids!" Dewey groused as he was being taken away.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Cherry and Patch rolled their eyes.


	8. Chapter 8

Meanwhile, Emma was playing her music with glee while the audience looked amazed at her wonderful ability. 

"She's amazing..." Leo smiled as he watched Emma.

"She sure is talented on the violin." Luna said.

The audience soon applauded for Emma once she finished her music.

"Emma Gale, everyone. Fantastic. Just fantastic, heh," Brick chuckled as Emma finished. "Hey, look at those numbers. Oh, it's going to be close. Oh, it is going to be close, and the voting closes now!"

And where it soon shows Emma, Atticus, Fred, Daphne, Leo, and Luna had the same amount of votes.

"Fantastic. Fantastic. Unbelievable. It's four-way tie." Brick said as he rated the voting.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to need a tie-breaking encore performance," Brick told the audience with a big smile. "Right here tonight, right after these messages," he then glanced over and came to the Gale family. "This is--"

"Fantastic?" Emma guessed.

"Yes. A tie," Brick smiled. "Do you have another piece you can do?"

"Yeah, but Daphne and Fred--" Emma replied.

"What about them?" Brick asked.

"They aren't here," Mike said. "They're chasing down another Phantom."

"This time it was Dewey." Meg said.

"Another? Heh, always knew there was something not right about that guy," Brick replied before pointing to Colette. "You. You're the new assistant director."

"Sir, you won't regret this!" Colette replied out of glee.

"Yeah. Don't care," Brick told her. "Emma's up after the break. We'll just hope Blake and Jones get back in time. And... Go!" he then walked away from them.

'I know that they'll make it back.' Luna thought to herself.

Leo looked a bit worried about winning because he felt bad for Emma.

"You okay, Leo?" Luna asked. "Hey, Leo!"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Leo told his sister.

"Then why were you looking worried?" Luna asked.

Leo looked to his sister.

"You can tell me..." Luna said to him.

Leo sighed softly. "I'm worried we might win."

"...You're worried about that?" Luna asked out of confusion.

"I want Emma to win so her family can keep their farm." Leo frowned.

"Ohh," Luna said, now understanding. "But you know, with the prize money, we can do anything we want with it like spend it or..."

Leo looked over to her. "Donate some of it to the Gales?"

"I think she would really love that." Luna smiled.

"Yeah, I think so too." Leo smiled back.

"You really like this girl, huh?" Luna guessed. 

Leo blushed to his little sister with a sheepish grin.

"Yep, you do." Luna smirked playfully.

"Ah, you'll understand someday," Leo smiled to her. "Someday you'll find a boy who--" he then paused before feeling his big brother instincts flaring up. "Erm... I'll talk with him first."

"Of course you will." Luna said.

"If he breaks your heart, I'll break his legs." Leo glared.

"Leo, I haven't met a boy yet," Luna reminded. "I don't think you have to worry about that for a while."

"Hmm... All right..." Leo replied.

Meanwhile back with Cherry and the others...

The bridge soon came down, allowing people to cross the road again.

"Blake, and Jones?" The officer asked.

"That's us," Fred replied. "We caught--"

"Dewey Ottoman," The officer interrupted as he already knew. "Yeah, that Brick guy called, we know everything."

"Then you'll be happy to know that we kept the Soap Diamond from him." Cherry said.

"Good work. Now, hop in," The officer replied before looking to Daphne and Fred. "You tied with the violin girl and those musical siblings, so you gotta do a tie-breaker. We'll take you back to the show."

"Oh, you don't have to do that." Daphne replied.

"Yes, I do!" The officer replied before smirking. "I got 50 bucks on you to win."

Cherry and Patch glanced in deadpan from that.

'Wow.' Patch thought to himself.

They soon rode away with the cops all the way back to the opera house while Cherry played with the handcuffs to practice a magic trick with them.

"So Dewey was the Phantom who 'faded away' in that stairwell." Velma said.

"How did he do that?" Shaggy asked.

"We checked the camera in the stairwell," Velma explained. "He had made a video loop of the empty stairwell, and spliced it into the camera feed."

"So that's how he made it look like he was a real phantom." Patch said.

"Of course," Daphne replied. "So when he ran in there--"

"He activated the loop with a remote, switching the view on the monitor to the empty stairwell, and making it look like he disappeared." Velma concluded with a smile.

"Very clever." Fred said.

"Yeah." Patch nodded.

"But guys you'll never believe what Cherry, that Stardust girl, Tanya, and I found when we went through all the backstage footages," Velma then said as she pulled out a disc. "This is gonna blow your socks off."

"Show us the footage." Patch smiled.

"Gladly, once I get my laptop," Cherry smirked before she looked down, and tugged out her arm, but her hand seemed to be cuffed to a bar. "Hey! Let go!" 

"Oh, Cherry, what bad DOESN'T happen to you?" Patch sighed.

"That's not funny, Spot!" Cherry glared. "Now unlock this handcuff."

"Hmm..." Patch paused.

"PAAAATCH?!" Cherry complained as she kept tugging.

Patch soon unlocked the handcuffs, making Cherry fall to the floor.

"How did that even happen?!" Cherry complained about the handcuffs.

"I told you not to play with those." Patch told her.

"Oh, you did not!" Cherry glared.

"Back to the footage." Patch said.

"Oh, you'll see," Cherry smirked. "I'm so smart, sometimes I scare myself."

"Don't brag." Patch told her.

"I'm not bragging," Cherry rolled her eyes. "Let's go."

"Agreed." Patch nodded.

Luckily, they weren't too far away now from the opera house.

Leo and Luna practiced a bit before they would go on for the tie-breaker.

"Sorry we didn't make it, Atticus." Mo said about the finale.

"That's okay," Atticus smiled. "The bright side is that Chrissy didn't make it either."

"Yeah, that's true." Mo nodded.

"Those two are pretty good though." Atticus said, looking to the Stardust siblings.

"Yeah, they're amazing." Mo smiled.

Luna blushed a bit bashfully as she overheard Atticus and Mo talking about her and her brother.

"Hey, uh, Leo, is it?" Atticus said, coming to the blonde boy. "I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot."

"Yeah, I'm sorry too," Leo replied. "I guess I was kinda being a show-off. I mean, I DO have dinosaur DNA in me."

"It's alright, I tend to show-off at times myself, sometimes without meaning to." Atticus told him.

Leo and Atticus smiled to each other as they seemed to become friends right away. 

'They're becoming friends.' Mo and Luna thought to themselves. The two soon looked to each other.

"Nice to see you close with your brother." Mo said to Luna.

"Oh, thank you," Luna smiled. "He really is my best friend."

"Aw." Mo smiled back.

Eventually, Emma began to take her turn, playing a new musical piece from her violin to wow the crowd in hopes of breaking the tie so that she could win the money for her and her family. And where Leo was amazed by Emma's musical piece.

"She can really play." Luna said.

"Yeah... She's incredible." Leo smiled brightly.

"You two have your work cut out for ya." Mo said.

Eventually, the girl soon finished playing as the crowd went wild for her.

"Fantastic, Emma, just fantastic, and look at those numbers." Brick said to Emma.

Emma smiled before looking backstage, seeing Leo wave to her and she soon waved back to him.

'He is so in love.' Mo thought to herself.

"And now, for those musical Stardust siblings," Brick told the crowd. "After them will be Blake and Jones, but apparently they're not in the building, so it looks like they forfeit there--"

"Out of my way!" Cherry's voice called out. "Out of my way!"

Atticus's spell soon wore off from Scooby and Patch.

"You can't bring that dog in here!" A certain voice snapped.

The audience turned around as that was right behind them.

"Try and stop us!" Cherry told the security with a sassy tone of voice.

"Gladly." The security guard said, about to take Scooby and Patch out of the building.

"You can't do that!" Cherry cried out.

"I'm gonna throw you out too if you don't pipe down, kid." The security guard glared at her.

"Hold it right there," The officer retorted, showing his badge. "That dog was instrumental in the apprehension of a dangerous felon."

Patch and Scooby simply smirked at the security guard.

"Oh, you CAN bring those dogs in here." The security guard smiled nervously.

The others nodded and soon kept going.

"Come on, we have to make some arrangements." Velma said.

'Ha! That security guard can't do a thing to us.' Patch thought to himself.

Scooby smirked, tickling the guard with his tail as he walked off with Shaggy.

Leo and Luna soon came out on stage as it was their turn for the tie-breaker.

'I wonder what their song will be this time?' Mo thought to herself.

"Whatya think this time?" Leo asked Luna. "I love that Money song, but it might not work if we did an encore just now."

"How about 'Listen to your Heart'?" Luna suggested.

"That's perfect." Leo smiled.

Luna smiled back. The crowd cheered for the Stardust siblings as they soon came out to play one of their songs. They played their instruments first before beginning the song.

"When you've got a choice to make, And you don't know which road to take, Or how to feel~" Luna began to sing.

"Listen to your heart, girl~" Leo added.

"When you look into his eyes, And you're not sure if he's telling lies, Or if it's real~" Luna continued.

"Listen to your heart, girl~" Leo added.

"Listen to your heart, girl~" Luna soon sang on her own for a little while. "Listen to your heart, girl, 'Cuz the heart's not gonna lie to you~"

"Listen to your heart, girl~" Leo sang.

"Listen to your heart, girl, And I know you'll always be hearing the truth, If you listen to your heart~" Luna sang.

"I think I like this one." Mo smiled, bobbing her head to the beat.

"Me too." Atticus smiled back.

"They're really good." Emma smiled to her parents. 

"They sure are, dear." Meg smiled back in agreement.

"Ahh... When there's people in your life, Trying to tell you what to do?~" Luna continued to sing. 

"Listen to your heart, girl~" Leo added.

The audience seemed to love the song very much as well.

"Do you take a brand new road, Or the one you've always known, Am I gettin' through?, Listen to your heart, girl~" Leo and Luna sang together.

"Listen to your heart, girl, Listen to your heart, girl~" Leo sang.

"'Cuz the heart's not gonna to lie to you~" Luna sang.

"Listen to your heart, girl~" Leo sang.

"Listen to your heart, girl And I know you'll always be hearing the truth, If you listen to your heart~" Luna sang.

"You got to listen, listen to your heart~" Leo and Luna sang together to end the song.

Everyone began cheer and applaud the Stardust siblings. Leo and Luna smiled to that. Their numbers seemed to go up just a bit above Emma's numbers.

"Fantastic, you two, simply fantastic." Brick smiled to the siblings.

Leo and Luna simply smiled back.

"Where were you?" Brick asked Fred and Daphne once they came by.

"We caught another Phantom." Fred smiled.

"Fantastic, just fantastic," Brick replied. "How many does that make now?"

"Three." Fred informed.

"Four if you count the original Phantom." Daphne added.

'And he tells us his real name in 3, 2, 1.' Cherry thought to herself.

"Call me Steve!" Steve smiled as he waved his hand from the audience.

Cherry smirked to herself.

"You got cocky suddenly." Atticus teased.

"I just wanted to be right about something." Cherry smirked.

"And I'm guessing you were right this time." Atticus said.

"Totally." Cherry beamed.

Atticus rolled his eyes, but gave a polite smile for his best friend.

"Fantastic work. Fantastic," Brick said to Fred and Daphne. "Now, are you ready for your tie-breaker performance?" 

"We have to do our song again?" Fred asked.

"Well, no, you have to do another song, heh. Grab your guitar, you're on," Brick told them before sending them backstage as he waved to the audience. "Blake and Jones, ladies and gentlemen. Aren't they fantastic?"

'What song are they going to sing now?' Mo thought to herself.

"Come on, let's show you guys that disc." Cherry told the others as she held onto the disc.

"Yeah." Patch nodded.

They soon went into the control room as Fred and Daphne wondered what to do next.

"What is it now?" KT asked.

"You're going to help us with a little surprise." Velma said, taking out the disc.

"And trust us, this surprise is big." Cherry smirked.

"Well... All right." KT soon allowed them to do what they had to do.

"Great." Patch smiled.

Fred and Daphne soon finished their song.

"Fantastic! Look at the scoreboard!" Brick beamed.

It seemed very close. Emma and her family waved from backstage with friendly smiles. Leo and Luna were also there as Spike, Chedra, Bullzeye, and T-Bone came to see the kids who were apart of their family. And when it almost seemed like Fred and Daphne were going to beat Emma, Leo, and Luna, except they started to tell bad jokes. They even began to laugh at their corny jokes while the audience had issues with them.

"Like, what the heck are they doing?" Shaggy asked.

"They're throwing the contest, so Emma can win, and her family can keep their farm." Velma replied.

"Or those Stardust kids can buy food for themselves since they're orphans." Cherry added.

The audience soon had enough of the jokes. Fred and Daphne laughed at the dumb jokes which began to make the crowd boo at them.

'Please make it stop.' Luna thought to herself referring to the jokes.

"Well, that was uncomfortable, heh," Brick then said. "All right. The voting closes... Now!"

The numbers soon continued, it was very close, but it seemed that Leo and Luna had won above Emma.

"Fantastic, and the winners are... Leo and Luna Stardust!" Brick announced.

'Wait for it.' Atticus thought to himself with a smile.

"Congratulations, Leo and Luna. Fantastic. Just fantastic," Brick smiled as he shook hands with the siblings. "And Blake and Jones, you may not have won, but congratulations on catching all of the Phantoms. All of them, every last one."

Leo and Luna smiled as they won before looking to Emma and her parents, looking soft to them since Emma couldn't win to save her family's farm, and then to each other.

"Mr. Pimiento... We would like to share our prize with the Gales." Leo soon said maturely.

Emma and her family were surprised when they heard Leo say that as their smiles returned.

"Well, erm... I suppose that would be alright." Brick replied to Leo.

"Then I wish to donate half of mine and my sister's winnings to the Gale family!" Leo proclaimed.

And where this caused the audience to go 'Aww!' as that was very generous of the Stardust Siblings.

"Oh! Thank you! Thank you!" Emma beamed as she ran up to Leo, hugging him and giving him a kiss as a reward.

This caused the audience to go 'Aww!' again. 

"No problem, Emma," Leo smiled, blushing a bit from the kiss. "You deserve it."

"At least all of the Phantoms are taking care of." Brick said.

"Not all of them." Atticus smirked.

"Hit it, girls." Mo added.

KT pulled down the lever and the screen changed into Brick dressing up like the Phantom, laughing evilly. Brick smiled sheepishly and ran off backstage, only to be blocked by two officers. He then went to the other direction only to be stopped by another officer.

"Busted, ooh, busted~" Cherry smirked to the TV show host.

"Care to explain yourself?" Luna added.

"Uh, I'm sorry?" Brick replied.

"You're sorry?" Luna deadpanned. "A little too late for sorry!"

"Why'd you do it?!" Leo glared at Brick.

"You don't understand. I HAD to do it," Brick frowned. "The ratings have been dropping for years. I needed the publicity. You don't know what it's like, being around all you talented people all the time, and being me. What am I good at? Nothing. All I do is smile and say 'fantastic' a lot. I'm pathetic."

"Yes, you are." Cherry smirked.

"I would have gotten away with it, if it hadn't been for--" Brick then began.

"Those meddling kids and their nosy dog," The officer replied. "Yeah, yeah, we know."

"They've heard it before as have we." Atticus said.

"The price of being friends with Mystery Inc." Cherry added.

"Speaking of which, you two owe me 50 bucks." The officer told Fred and Daphne.

Cherry chuckled a bit from that as it was kind of funny. Fred and Daphne laughed nervously from the officer's response to them.

"With Brick going to jail, who's going to host the show from now on?" Mo asked.

Steve then got out of his seat and jumped onto the stage with a smile. "Well, a big thank you to all our contestants," The man then announced as he took over as the host since Brick was now arrested. "Live from Chicago, this is Steve Trilby for Talent Star, saying, if you've got the talent, we've got the star. Good night, America."

"Uh, that works." Cherry shrugged.

Everyone soon left the building.

"Congratulations." Atticus said to Leo and Luna.

"Thank you," Leo smiled. "Hopefully we can buy some nice food with this money, as well as some new clothes."

"While also paying the bills." Luna said.

"I'd like to see you try out Jurassic Park if you live with dinosaurs." Atticus smirked playfully to Leo. 

"I bet I could." Leo smirked.

The two shared a laugh together.

"That would be interesting," Atticus replied. "I wonder if we'll see each other again?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Luna shrugged. 

"You never know." Cherry said.

"Get home safe now." Atticus told the Stardust siblings.

"See ya." Leo waved as he took Luna to go back home with Chedra and the Extreme Dinosaurs.

"Eh, I might not have won, but at least someone got to have a happy ending." Shaz smiled as he stood with Olivia. 

"True." Olivia smiled back.

"Should I say it even if I lost?" Shaz asked.

"I love it when you do." Olivia blushed.

"Well, in that case..." Shaz smiled before proclaiming his and the others' catchphrase. "Ducks ROCK!"

Everyone soon went back home.

"Well, that was fun," Cherry shrugged. "I guess for being apart of a show I'm not that crazy about." 

"Yeah, I guess it was great." Patch said.

"That Leo kid sure was interesting," Atticus said. "Even if we butted heads at first."

"Yeah, guess so." Mo said.

They soon rode away out of Chicago to go back home.

"Well, I didn't get to meet the actual Phantom of the Opera, but I have to admit... I did have a bit of fun." Cherry said. 

"On the plus side, we saw the Mighty Ducks again." Atticus smiled, remembering from when they first saw the hockey team in person and found out about their origins.

"Mm-hmm." Mo smiled back with a nod.

They soon continued to ride along back home after another adventure had been completed by them.

The End


End file.
